KD Tocher Medal


The KD Tocher Medal is awarded in recognition of the most outstanding contribution to the philosophy, theory or practice of simulation published in the Journal of Simulation within the relevant two year period.

This award is named in memory of KD Tocher, who made a significant contribution to the field of discrete-event simulation by developing the basis on which much modern software is built via his General Simulation Program. He is the author of “The Art of Simulation” (1963), a formative book in the field.

Professor KD Tocher

Professor KD Tocher

Citation for the KD Tocher Medal 2023

Chaitanya Kaligotla, Enver Yücesan and Stephen E. Chick

Diffusion of Competing Rumours on Social Media

We happily award the Tocher medal to Chaitanya Kaligotla (Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University), Enver Yücesan and Stephen E. Chick (INSEAD) for their paper ‘Diffusion of Competing Rumours on Social Media’.

The paper considers the dynamics of communication on social media, namely the spread of competing rumours. The impact of micro-level agent interactions on macro level outcomes is investigated for two competing rumours and heuristics for countering the spread of unfavourable rumours are proposed. The judges believe the subject matter of the paper is of wide interest in this time of ‘false news’. We found the investigation was well explained and meets the aim of the authors to broaden the understanding of a complex social phenomenon. The paper is an outstanding example of the practical use of Agent Based Modelling to provide insight in a real-world complex system. Congratulations to the authors!

Journal of Simulation, Volume 16 (3) 230-250

https://doi.org/10.1080/17477778.2020.1785345

Tocher winners 2023 w/o names

Chaitanya Kaligotla, Enver Yücesan and Stephen E. Chick

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Guidelines

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