Citation for Beale Medal 2025
Stewart Robinson
Professor Stewart Robinson is one of the few examples of a professor who has successfully transitioned from industry to academia and had an exceptional career contributing to research and academic leadership. His academic contributions have been principally to the practice of computer simulation while his leadership positions are across the breadth of Operational Research.
Professor Robinson’s research interests lie in the methodology and methods employed in simulation studies with the aim of improving the practice of simulation. Having started his career working in the management services group of a major UK footwear retailer, he first encountered the field of computer simulation while working as a consultant with AT&T Istel (then the Lanner Group, now part of Haskoning), who develop and sell the Witness simulation software. Since starting his PhD at Lancaster University, he has co-authored over 200 research papers and participated in several funded research projects. Professor Robinson has a talent for writing articles that clearly express both existing research challenges and proposed solutions for solving them. These articles ensure that meaningful methodological questions are answered that will have demonstrable improvements in the practice of simulation.
In 2021, Professor Robinson was part of a team awarded the President’s Medal for the SIMTEGR8 project that helped the Lightbulb Service Deliver improved housing support services to the Frail and vulnerable in Leicestershire and Rutland. This helps to demonstrate the practical application of his work and the impact it has had.
The book, Simulation: the practice of model development and use was first published in 2004. Described as a non–technical textbook, it brings key ideas from simulation to a wider audience and has been widely read and cited. The fact that it is still in print, twenty years later is testament to the longevity of its arguments and the value of its contents. As an experienced lecturer at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, including MBA students, Professor Robinson has been extremely successful in spreading the word about simulation outside its typical community. He has also acted as a supervisor, mentor or examiner of numerous undergraduate, masters and PhD theses, with his PhD students often going onto successful academic careers.
In 2006, Professor Robinson and Professor Simon Taylor published the first volume of the Journal of Simulation, which is entering its twentieth year is now one of the key journals of the Operational Research Society. The journal publishes research on the theory and application of simulation modelling and was designed to provide an opportunity for authors to publish work on the practice and application of simulation modelling that did not exist previously. Ideas for the new journal originated in discussions at the Simulation Workshop, a biennial conference that was first run in 2002, set up by Professors Robinson and Taylor. This has been instrumental in maintaining the community of simulation researchers within the UK. His support for the simulation community extends internationally and he is a board member of the Winter Simulation Conference, the key international conference for the simulation community.
Outside of the simulation community, Professor Robinson has served as President of the OR Society from 2014 to 2015 and is currently Chair of the Chartered Association of Business Schools. He has been Dean of Newcastle University Business School since 2022 and was previously Dean of Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics from 2015 to 2021.
Professor Robinson is an influential academic, well-known internationally for his work on the practice of simulation, but he has also given considerable time and energy to benefit the community. As a result, we feel that he would be a worthy recipient of the Beale Medal.