WORLD OF MORS
Last winter, the MORS Board of Directors approved our first 5-year plan with its aim to “[b]ecome the recognized leader in advancing the national security analytic community through the advancement and application of the interdisciplinary field of Operations Research to national security issues, being responsive to our constituents, enabling collaboration and development opportunities, and expanding our membership and disciplines while maintaining our profession’s heritage.” The Board also reorganized its structure to better support the MORS member. Under the sponsorship of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, and the Department of Homeland Security, and with this vision, our Society motto is “Leading the National Security Analytical Community.” This reflects the focus on national security analysis which expands our base.
The “World of MORS” describes the many facets of our Society – our goals, history, code of ethics, membership, management, forums and publications. Since its incorporation as a professional society in 1966, MORS has provided timely and valuable support to analysts and decision makers in the national security analytical community. We have a solid foundation and have hit the ground running in our 44th year. We have an incredible opportunity to build upon last year’s successes to grow the Society’s future.
This year’s theme, Leveraging Operations Research for Global Security Operations, builds upon the foundation with an excellent slate of meetings during the upcoming MORS year. They include:
- Maritime Domain Awareness and Piracy, Chateau Cartier, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 26-29 October 2009
- Power and Energy, Northrop Grumman’s Heritage Conference Center, Chantilly, VA, 30 November – 3 December 2009
- Personnel Recruiting, Retention & Resourcing: A Quantitative Approach, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, 25-28 January 2010
- Analytic Agenda: Post-QDR Way Ahead, Northrop Grumman’s Heritage Conference Center, Chantilly, VA, 1-4 March 2010
- (5th meeting TBD by 1 October 2009), Whitney, Bradley, and Brown, Inc., Reston, VA, 20-23 April 2010
The Education & Professional Development’s Education Colloquium is scheduled for 14-15 April 2009, at the Army’s Operations Research Scientific Applications / Military Applications Course (ORSA/MAC) school at Ft. Lee in Petersburg, VA. Finally, the MORS year will conclude 22-24 June 2010 with the 78th MORS Symposium, which will be held at Marine Corps University on the Marine Corps base in Quantico, VA.
The MORS volunteer leadership is reviewing all the recommendations you provided us. Thank you all very much for these suggestions. With that said, some of the major projects we will be working on include establishing metrics to track how well we are doing per the 5-Year Plan, determining more ways to provide value to the membership, and assessing how we communicate via publications, our web-site, collaboration methods and with advertisements. For the latest updates on our meeting slate and the projects mentioned above, please check the MORS website http:///www.mors.org, or contact the MORS Office.
This is your Society. I encourage you to share your ideas and continue your time this year to grow our Society on its new foundation. Please contact me, the members of the Executive Council, the members of the Board of Directors, and the MORS Office Staff with your ideas for Leveraging Operations Research for Global Security Operations.
Kirk Michealson
President 2009-2010