The INFORMS Optimization Society 2024 Egon Balas Prize is awarded to Professor Amir Ali Ahmadi for his “deep and broad contributions in mathematical optimization”. 

“Dr. Ahmadi has made deep and broad contributions in mathematical optimization with many connections to other fields including mathematics, control theory, and robotics. He has made significant advances in the study of optimization problems defined by polynomial functions, including the complexity of finding local minima and detecting convexity of polynomials. Other contributions include an algebraic characterization of perfect graphs, linear and second-order cone programming approaches to certify nonnegativity of polynomials, higher-order Newton methods for nonlinear optimization, and the construction of Lyapunov functions for switch systems in control theory. Dr. Ahmadi’s contributions include the resolution of several problems that have been open for many years.”—INFORMS Optimization Society

This annual award, given in honor of Egon Balas,  serves as recognition of the recipient’s innovativeness and impact in the area of optimization, including its theory, algorithms, and/or computations.