Using algorithmic thinking to fight gerrymandering

In his TEDxCornellUniversity talk “Fairness Through Algorithmic Thinking: Designing Better Congressional Districts and Elections,” David Shmoys discusses optimization tools to create fairer congressional districts, as well as designing rules for this that are more resilient to partisan manipulation. David Shmoys is a professor of operations research and computer science at Cornell, who is passionate about teaching the fundamentals of optimization modeling and algorithms to his students. In his research, he uses optimization models to help the world run better, in settings that range from improving the operations of Citibike, to long-term forestry planning to protect the red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered species. In his TEDxCornell talk “Fairness Through Algorithmic Thinking: Designing Better Congressional Districts and Elections,” he will discuss optimization tools to create fairer congressional districts, as well as designing rules for this that are more resilient to partisan manipulation. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. 

You can watch David Shmoys's TEDx Talk here.