Companion of OR

The award of Companion is expected to meet one of six different requirements, and this nomination for John Hopes falls in Category 5 – “Those who have given outstanding service to the OR Society”.

John Hopes has spent just about all of his working life and beyond working in Operational Research.

His career started with Shell and progressed to various stints in consulting, finishing as Global Head of Analytics at Ernst & Young (or EY as they became).

John has volunteered with the OR Society for an extended period of more than a decade. He was first elected to General Council and Board for the start of 2011, serving six years as Vice President. In 2017 he became President Elect, serving two years as President from 2018 to 2019, and finishing with an extended spell as Past President (two years, due to the COVID pandemic). This is almost certainly the longest continuous spell on Board and General Council since the new constitution came into force in 2006 – and possibly the longest allowable under those rules.

John’s term on Board coincided with a long period of growth for the Society, taking on new initiatives and the staff to manage those. Under his leadership as President, the Society continued to build its strong financial base.

John has been a key contributor to the Society embracing analytics and building its positioning and offering to the widening analytical community. He has been a member of what is now know as the Analytics Development Group since its inception, ensuring new offering such as the Analytics Network, the Analytics Summit and the Journal of Business Analytics have become an established part of the Society’s work.

John’s financial acumen has also been key for the Society as its revenue has grown over the last decade, and he continues to share his expertise as a member of the Investment committee, helping to see the Society through some very turbulent times with the COVID pandemic, the Ukraine war and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis.

John continues to represent the Society through its membership of the Alliance for Data Science Professionals, making sure that the OR Society was at the very heart of an initiative key to this area.

John recently took on the role of secretary to HORAF, the Heads of Analytics Forum, a role in which he can continue to ensure that the Society and the wider OR community can develop and extend its influence in the wider analytical world.

John is an exceptional candidate to become a Companion of OR, rewarding his lasting work with the Society.