D.R. Fulkerson Centennial Celebration

The program started with a general-audience public lecture highlighting the formative achievements of Fulkerson and his collaborators on foundations of both pure and computational mathematics in several important areas, as well as the profound real-world impact of Fulkerson’s work. This talk was followed by three more technical surveys that described progress in key areas to which he contributed: discrete optimization via integer programming; network flows; and extremal combinatorics, perfect graphs & related polyhedra.

We invited collaborators, students, colleagues of Fulkerson, and the subsequent generations of scholars in these areas whose work has been influenced by this foundational work, including all Cornell faculty, students over the years. It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect in celebrating Fulkerson’s legacy.

Featured Speakers

• Tom Magnanti
• Karla Hoffman
• Ted Ralphs
• Andrew Goldberg
• Gerard Cornuejols

Link to presentation materials is here. You will also find a written remembrance from Jack Edmonds entitled "Ray and Me."

Schedule

Friday, September 20, 2024

3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Check-in and Welcome reception
Duffield Atrium
                                          
3:45 PM - 5:15 PM
Opening session—Thomas Magnanti, "Ray Fulkerson: Awe-inspiring Pioneer of Network Flows, Optimization, and Combinatorial Analysis"
Session Chair: David Shmoys
Phillips 101 
Link to session materials (slides and video) is here.

6:00-9:00pm
Banquet Dinner with remarks by Bob Bland and Bob Bixby
Link to materials is here

 
Saturday, September 21, 2024

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Session 1—Karla Hoffman and Ted Ralphs, "A Tour of Discrete Optimization - Ray Fulkerson's Impact: Past, Present, and Future"
Session Chairs: Leslie Trotter and David Williamson
Rhodes 571
Link to session materials (slides and video) is here.

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Break
Rhodes 4th floor lounge

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Session 2—Andrew Goldberg, "The Network Flow Problem: A Classic that is Alive and Well"
Session Chair: Bob Bland
Rhodes 571
Link to talk materials (slides and video) is here.

Lunch--Upson Lounge (116 Upson Hall)

1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
Session 3—Gerard Cornuejols, "Blocking and Antiblocking Theory"
Session Chair: Joel Spencer
Concluding Remarks by Jack Edmonds discussing his paper “Ray and Me”
Rhodes 571
Link to session materials (slides, paper, and video) is here.

3:15 PM - 5:15 PM
Wine and Cheese Cocktail Reception
Big Red Barn