Joel Sokol

Harold E. Smalley Professor


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  • Joel Sokol Google Scholar

Education

  • Ph.D. Operations Research (1999), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • B.S., B.A. Applied Sciences in Engineering; Mathematics; Computer Science (1994), Rutgers University

Expertise

  • Analytics
  • Applied Operations Research
  • Sports Analytics

About

Joel Sokol is the Harold E. Smalley Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He is also Director of the interdisciplinary Master of Science in Analytics degree (on-campus and online).

His primary research interests are in sports analytics and applied operations research. He has worked with teams or leagues in all three of the major American sports. Dr. Sokol's LRMC method for predictive modeling of the NCAA basketball tournament is an industry leader, and his non-sports research has won the EURO Management Science Strategic Innovation Prize and been a finalist for the Cozzarelli Prize.

Dr. Sokol has also won recognition for his teaching and curriculum development from IIE and the NAE, held the Fouts Family Associate Professorship for a three-year term, and is the recipient of Georgia Tech's highest awards for teaching. He served two terms as INFORMS Vice President of Education, and is a past Chair and founding officer of the INFORMS section on sports operations research.

Dr. Sokol's Ph.D. in operations research is from MIT, and his bachelor's degrees in mathematics, computer science, and applied sciences in engineering are from Rutgers University.

Awards and Honors

  • Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award 2014
  • Fouts Family Early Career Professorship 2013 - present
  • Keynote Speaker, EURO/INFORMS 2013
  • IIE/CIEADH Innovations in Curriculum Award 2012
  • NAE Foundations of Engineering Education Symposium 2011
  • IIE Excellence in the Teaching of Operations Research Award 2010
  • Class of 1934 Outstanding Use of Innovative Educational Technology Award 2010
  • Hesburgh Award Teaching Fellow 2009
  • Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award 2008
  • EURO Management Science Strategic Innovation Prize 2007
  • ANAK Award 2005