JAMES J. COCHRAN
Biographical Sketch
Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing & Analysis
College of Administration and Business
Louisiana Tech University
P. O. Box 10318
Ruston, LA 71272
Office: (318) 257-3445
Fax: (318) 257-4253
e-mail: jcochran@cab.latech.edu
Dr. James J. Cochran received his B.S. in Economics and Business
Administration from Wright State University in 1982, his M.S. in Economics from
Wright State University in 1984, his M.B.A. from Wright State University in
1985, and his Ph.D. in Quantitative Analysis from the University of Cincinnati
in 1997. He was nominated for the 1998 UPS-SOLA Dissertation Award for
outstanding doctoral dissertation in the area of location analysis, the 1997
Elwood S. Buffa Award for outstanding doctoral dissertation in the development
of theory or application of the decision sciences, the 1997 Savage Award
for outstanding doctoral dissertation in the area of Bayesian econometrics and
statistics, and the 1997 Zellner Award for outstanding doctoral
dissertation dealing with an applied problem.
Dr. Cochran has taught courses in statistical methods, regression analysis, experimental design, linear models, categorical data analysis, statistical consulting, mathematical statistics, multivariate statistics, operations research methods, and mathematical programming. Courses in which Dr. Cochran has incorporated cases (which he generally authors) include undergraduate and MBA-level business statistics and operations research. He was the recipient of the 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 College of Business Administration Graduate Teaching Excellence Awards at the University of Cincinnati. He also received the 1986-1987 Management Science Faculty Teaching Excellence Award while with Wright State University. He was also a nominee for the Waller Award for innovation in the instruction of elementary statistics in 2002 and 2005, a nominee for the Mu Sigma Rho Statistical Education Award for excellence in classroom teaching in the statistics discipline in 2002, and a nominee for the INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of OR/MS Practice for excellence in teaching the practice of OR/MS in 2005.
Companies for whom Dr. Cochran has served as a consultant include Procter & Gamble, Ralston-Purina, Jergens, J. Walter Thompson, Heinz, General Foods, Quaker, Gibson Greetings, Texas Instruments, Friendly's Restaurants, Whittle Communications, Kenner Toys, Marriott, and Nabisco. His consulting frequently involves design of experiments or sampling plans for both behavioral and attitudinal marketing research studies, analysis of marketing research study results, and the use of these results to formulate strategic marketing plans.
Dr. Cochran's research interests include statistical methods (particularly general linear models) and stochastic combinatorial optimization. The areas of application that interest Dr. Cochran include product design and positioning, facility location, medicine, education, sports, and performance evaluation. His current research includes statistical properties, Bayesian approaches, and algorithms for sample-based mathematical programming problems, stochastic combinatorial optimization problems. His research has been published in many academic journals, including Management Science, the American Statistician, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of the Operational Research Society, the Journal of Statistics Education, INFORMS' Transactions on Education, the Journal of Sports Economics, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, and The Journal of Arthroplasty.
Professor Cochran was the General Chair of the 2005 INFORMS Conference and Chair of the INFORMS Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund drive.He has served as President (2001-2005), Vice President - Meetings (1997-2000) and Vice President - Projects (2000-2001) of INFORM-ED (INFORMS' Forum on Education). He is the founding Chair of SpORts (the INFORMS section on Operations Research in Sports). He is a past President of the American Statistical Association's section on Statistics in Sports and is their current Council of Sections representative. He was elected to the International Statistics Institute in 2005 and is a member of the ISI's Sports Statistics Committee. He has established and organized INFORMS' Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium series and INFORMS' annual case competition. He has also served on INFORMS' Education Committee since 1997, INFORMS' Case Competition Committee and Teaching Cases Committee since 1999, INFORMS' Student Affairs Committee and Combined Colloquia Committee since 2000, and INFORMS' Strategic Marketing Committee since 2001. He was also a member of the Decision Science Institute's Instructional Innovation Award Committee (1998-2001).
Dr. Cochran is Associate Editor-Novel Applications for Interfaces, an Associate Editor and member of the Advisory Board for INFORMS Transactions on Education, an Associate Editor and member of the Advisory Board for the Operations Management Education Review, and a member of the Advisory Board for INFORMS Case & Teaching Materials Initiative and INFORMS Summer Teaching Management Science workshop series.