Dr. Alain Bensoussan

Dr. Alain Bensoussan

Dr. Alain Bensoussan, professor of risk and decision analysis and an Ashbel Smith Professor in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas, is among 1,119 international mathematicians who have been named Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for 2013.

This is the inaugural class of honorees. The Fellow designation recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement and use of mathematics.

Bensoussan’s research focuses on decision-making under uncertain circumstances. Some examples of the many areas where this research is applied include financial markets, forecasting wind energy, designing structures that can resist earthquakes and developing strategies for stabilizing an aircraft, Bensoussan said.

“My research uses mathematical techniques of various kinds,” Bensoussan said. “In fact, applications motivate new mathematical concepts and methods. With this recognition, the AMS emphasizes the importance of applied mathematical research.”

Bensoussan is director of the International Center for Decision and Risk Analysis at UT Dallas. Researchers associated with the center apply such mathematics as probability and statistics to issues of risk management and decision making.

“One tends to think of mathematics as being an abstract topic; however, Alain has been able to show our students how mathematics can be applied elegantly in solving problems in business.”

Dr. Varghese Jacob,
senior associate dean,
  Jindal School of Management

In addition to holding distinguished academic posts over the course of his career, Bensoussan has been involved with U.S. and European space agencies. He was president of the French Space Agency and chairman of the European Space Agency Council, and he is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. NASA awarded him its Distinguished Public Service Medal for his work establishing contacts among space agencies worldwide.

“Control theory, my basic domain of expertise, was born with the space program, and motivated by the guidance of rockets,” Bensoussan said. “Being associated with space activities, I also learned a lot about risk analysis. In fact, in the context of risk management at large, many industry sectors follow what the space agencies do.”

“Alain’s outstanding mathematical skills, combined with his experience at the French Space Agency, allow him to bring a rather unique perspective on the role of mathematics,” said Dr. Varghese Jacob, senior associate dean and the Lars Magnus Ericsson Distinguished Professor of Information Systems in the Jindal School of Management.  “One tends to think of mathematics as being an abstract topic; however, Alain has been able to show our students how mathematics can be applied elegantly in solving problems in business.”  

The 30,000-member AMS was founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship. The organization provides programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life.