KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Chiang Kao
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Chiang Kao is a University Chair Professor of Industrial and Information Management at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. He received his MS in Operations Research and PhD in Forest Management from Oregon State University, USA, and also did post-doctoral research in Economics at Oregon State University. After joining National Cheng Kung University and working for a couple of years, he was hired by the Computer Science Department of Southwest Texas State University as a professor, and returned to National Cheng Kung University in 1990. Since he started his teaching career in1980, he has been a visiting scholar at Purdue University (USA) for one year, a guest professor at Aachen University of Technology (Germany) for six months, a visiting professor at INSEAD (France) for three months, a visiting scholar at Paul Sabatier University (France) for three months, and a visiting scholar at University of Bologna (Italy) for five months. Currently he is also an honorable professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Professor Kao has published more than 150 papers in international journals, of which approximately 50 are related to DEA. He also attends international conferences to give invited talks and present papers, with a number reaching one hundred. He is now finishing a book titled “Network Data Envelopment Analysis: Foundations and Extensions” for Springer. In addition to this book, he is also the author of three Chinese books, Performance Evaluation: Data Envelopment Analysis, The Art of Decision-making, and Research Strategy for Journal Publication. The accomplishments in teaching and research won him the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Ministry of Education and the Distinguished Research Award from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.
Professor Kao has also held administrative posts at National Cheng Kung University, including Chairman of the Department of Industrial and Information Management, Director of the University Library, Dean of the College of Management, and President of the University. He has also served as the President of the Chinese Institute of Industrial Engineers and a director of the Chinese Management Association for many years. He served one term as the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the Chinese Institute of Industrial Engineers. He continues to serve as an Associate Editor for Omega, a post he first took up in 2009, and is on the Editorial Board of European Journal of Operational Research since 2015.
Wade D. Cook
The Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada.
Professor Cook is an international pioneer who has had a long term impact on the field of operational research which involves the development and application of quantitative and computer-based tools. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading scholars in efficiency measurement. Professor Cook has an outstanding publication record, has been awarded numerous prestigious research grants, and has been both Editor and editorial board member of many leading journals in his field. The frequency of his research citations places him in the very top tier of Canadian business school academics. He currently holds the endowed Gordon Charlton Shaw Professorship in Management Science at Schulich School of Business.
Joseph C. Paradi
Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering University, Canada
Joseph C. Paradi is the Executive Director and Professor Emeritus Centre for Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship Chair Holder in Information Engineering Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering University of Toronto.
Since his childhood in Budapest, Hungary, and immigrating to Canada as a youngster, Dr. Paradi has spent over 5 decades "building" something - first, an education. He completed high school in Toronto, then attended the University of Toronto where he obtained a degree in Chemical Engineering, followed by M.A.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees. He is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineers.
After graduation he entered into the business world and founded Dataline Inc. in 1968. The Company was very successful, engaged in the time-sharing of computer services business and grew to a $25 million (~$45 M today), large Canadian company that he sold in late 1987 and left in January 1989 after 20 years at the helm.
He started teaching on a part time basis during the early 1980’s when the first lectures in "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" were delivered. Today, he is the Executive Director of the Centre for Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship, and a Professor Emeritus. He is the Chair holder in Information Engineering in the Faculty. He teaches/organizes 8 courses in Entrepreneurship and Business, and Small Business management. His research activities focus on the Financial Services Industry and currently include the supervision of a group of 3 graduate students working on their Masters and Doctorate. He advised 16 Ph.D. candidates, supervised about 70 M.A.Sc and over 180 undergraduate theses involving 250 students. He is the co-author of 58 peer reviewed papers, 3 books and 5 Chapters in books. He has participated in conference sessions and acted as Chairman, Moderator and Key-note speaker in 50 events.