Profile

Gilbert Laporte is Professor Emeritus at HEC Montréal. He obtained his Ph.D. in Operational Research at the London School of Economics in 1975. He was Professor of Operational Research at HEC Montréal and Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management until August 2020. He is now Professor at the School of Management of the University of Bath, United Kingdom, and Professor II at Molde University College, Norway. He is also Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, and Distinguished Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology. He is a member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) and founding member of the Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD). He has been Editor of Transportation ScienceComputers & Operations Research and INFOR. He has authored or coauthored more than 20 books and 600 scientific articles in combinatorial optimization, mostly in the areas of vehicle routing, location, districting and timetabling.

University studies

Ph.D., Operational Research, London School of Economics (advisor: Ailsa H. Land)1972-1975
M.A., Operational Research, Lancaster University, United Kingdom (advisor: Geoffrey Gregory)1971-1972
B.Sc. Honours and First Class, Mathematics, McGill University1969-1971
B.A., Mathematics, Collège Sainte-Marie, Université de Montréal 1965-1969

University positions

Professor Emeritus, HEC Montréal2021-
Honorary Professor, HEC Montréal2020-
Professor, School of Management, University of Bath, United Kingdom2020-
Professor II, Molde University College, Norway2006-
Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management2001-2020
Professor, HEC Montréal1986-2020
Associate Professor, HEC Montréal1980-1986
Assistant Professor, HEC Montréal1976-1980
Research Fellow, Département d’informatique, Université de Montréal1975-1976

Visiting appointments

Honorary Visiting Professor, University of Liverpool,
United Kingdom
2019-
Distinguished Professor, Eindhoven University of Technology,
the Netherlands
2016-
Visiting Professor, University of Science and Technology of
China, Hefei, China
2013-2016
Visiting Professor, University of Southampton,
United Kingdom
2010-2019
Adjunct Professor, Bilkent University, Turkey2005-2010
Invited Professor (three weeks), Bilkent University, Turkey 2005, 2007
Tow Lecturer (one week), Henry B. Tippie College of
Business, University of Iowa, United States
2005
Invited Professor (one month), Université de Valenciennes et
du Hainaut-Cambrésis, France
2003
Invited Professor (one week), University of Minnesota,
United States
2000
Invited Professor (two months), Technical University
of Denmark
1998-1999,
2001
Adjunct Professor, University of Alberta, Canada1995-2001
Academic Host (eight weeks), École Polytechnique Fédérale
de Lausanne, Switzerland
1994-1995
Adjunct Professor, Université Laval, Canada 1993-1996, 2004-2007

Directorships

Director, Department of Quantitative Methods for Management (now Decision Sciences), HEC Montréal1998-2001
Director, Centre for Research on Transportation,  Université de Montréal,
HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal
1987-1991
Director, Joint Ph.D. Program in Administration, HEC Montréal, McGill
University, Concordia University, Université du Québec à Montréal
1982-1985
Director, Ph.D. Program, HEC Montréal1979-1985
Director of Research, HEC Montréal1979-1985

Editorships

Editor-in-Chief of Computers & Operations Research2003-2006
Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Science1995-2002
Editor (Operational Research) of INFOR: Information Science and
Operational Research
1987-1992

Current editorial activities

Associate Editor, Operations Research
Associate Editor, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review
Associate Editor, Networks
Associate Editor, Naval Research Logistics
Associate Editor, Journal of the Operational Research Society
Associate Editor, TOP
Associate Editor, INFOR: Information Systems and Operational Research
Associate Editor, Decision Analytics
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Transportation Science
Member of the Editorial Board, Computers & Operations Research
Member of the Editorial Board, European Journal of Operational Research
Member of the Editorial Board, EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics
Member of the Editorial Board, EURO Journal on Computational Optimization
Member of the Editorial Board, Pesquisa Operacional
Member of the Editorial Board, Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
Member of the Editorial Board, European Journal of Industrial Engineering
Member of the Editorial Board, International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics
Member of the Editorial Board, Communications in Transport Research
Member of the Editorial Board, Operations Research Perspectives
Member of the Editorial Board, Frontiers of Engineering Management
Member of the Editorial Board, Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain
Member of the Editorial Board, Supply Chain Analytics

Research environment and funding

Throughout my career I have maintained several collaborations with researchers in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Several of my research visits have been subsidized by various funds in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay.

In Canada, most of my research activities have taken place within the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) and the Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD). Between 1977 and 2020, I have received continuous funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for my work on logistics and distribution management. I have also received frequent funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) for various team projects on resource optimization in transportation and logistics. Between 2001 and 2020, I have held the Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, funded by the Canada Research Chairs Program.

Most of my international research collaborations have taken place in Europe (with over 300 trips in 23 countries). I was namely international investigator at the University of Seville in four transportation and network design projects funded by the Spanish National Research Agency, in one project funded by the Andalusian Research Plan, and in one project funded by the Framework Operational Program FEDER Andalusia; in one project at Aarhus University on transportation issues in waste management, funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research – Social Sciences; in one project at Universiteit Hasselt on optimization in logistics (OR4Logistics), funded by the Research Foundation Flanders. I am a member of the Centre for Smart Warehousing and Logistics Systems at the University of Bath.

In Asia, I am international investigator on the research project “Ship inspection planning in maritime transportation: Effective targeting of substandard ships and efficient routing of inspectors” at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

In addition to doing research, I have acted or still act as scientific consultant or scientific board member for the Université de Liège, the LANCS Initiative in the United Kingdom, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus International sur la Sécurité et l’Intermodalité dans les Transports (CISIT), France, and PTV Group AG, Germany. I am also ambassador for YPC Technologies in Canada. I am now a member of the Committee of Professors of Operational Research (COPIOR) in the United Kingdom.

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