The John von Neumann Theory Prize of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is awarded annually to an individual (or sometimes a group) who has made fundamental and sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences.

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The Prize named after mathematician John von Neumann is awarded for a body of work, rather than a single piece. The Prize was intended to reflect contributions that have stood the test of time. The criteria include significance, innovation, depth, and scientific excellence.

The award is $5,000, a medallion and a citation.

The Prize has been awarded since 1975. The first recipient was George B. Dantzig for his work on linear programming.

• 2022 Vijay Vazirani
• 2021 Alexander Shapiro
• 2020 Adrian Lewis
• 2019 Dimitris Bertsimas and Jong-Shi Pang
• 2018 Dimitri Bertsekas and John Tsitsiklis
  • for contributions to Parallel and Distributed Computation as well as Neurodynamic Programming.
• 2017 Donald Goldfarb and Jorge Nocedal
  • for seminal contributions to the theory and applications of nonlinear optimization over the past several decades.
• 2016 Martin I. Reiman and Ruth J. Williams
  • for seminal research contributions over the past several decades, to the theory and applications of “stochastic networks/systems” and their “heavy traffic approximations.”
• 2015 Vašek Chvátal and Jean Bernard Lasserre
  • for seminal and profound contributions to the theoretical foundations of optimization.
• 2014 Nimrod Megiddo
  • for fundamental contributions across a broad range of areas of operations research and management science, most notably in linear programming, combinatorial optimization, and algorithmic game theory.
• 2013 Michel Balinski
• 2012 George Nemhauser and Laurence Wolsey^[1]
• 2011 Gérard Cornuéjols, IBM University Professor of Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business
  • for his fundamental and broad contributions to discrete optimization including his deep research on balanced and ideal matrices, perfect graphs and cutting planes for mixed-integer optimization.
• 2010 Søren Asmussen and Peter W. Glynn
• 2009 Yurii Nesterov and Yinyu Ye
• 2008 Frank Kelly
• 2007 Arthur F. Veinott, Jr.
  • for his profound contributions to three major areas of operations research and management science: inventory theory, dynamic programming and lattice programming.
• 2006 Martin Grötschel, László Lovász and Alexander Schrijver
  • for their fundamental path-breaking work in combinatorial optimization.
• 2005 Robert J. Aumann
  • in recognition of his fundamental contributions to game theory and related areas
• 2004 J. Michael Harrison
  • for his profound contributions to two major areas of operations research and management science: stochastic networks and mathematical finance.
• 2003 Arkadi Nemirovski and Michael J. Todd
  • for their seminal and profound contributions in continuous optimization.
• 2002 Donald L. Iglehart and Cyrus Derman
  • for their fundamental contributions to performance analysis and optimization of stochastic systems
• 2001 Ward Whitt
  • for his contributions to queueing theory, applied probability and stochastic modelling
• 2000 Ellis L. Johnson and Manfred W. Padberg
• 1999 R. Tyrrell Rockafellar
• 1998 Fred W. Glover
• 1997 Peter Whittle
• 1996 Peter C. Fishburn
• 1995 Egon Balas
• 1994 Lajos Takacs
• 1993 Robert Herman
• 1992 Alan J. Hoffman and Philip Wolfe
• 1991 Richard E. Barlow and Frank Proschan
• 1990 Richard Karp
• 1989 Harry M. Markowitz
• 1988 Herbert A. Simon
• 1987 Samuel Karlin
• 1986 Kenneth J. Arrow
• 1985 Jack Edmonds
• 1984 Ralph Gomory
• 1983 Herbert Scarf
• 1982 Abraham Charnes, William W. Cooper, and Richard J. Duffin
• 1981 Lloyd Shapley
• 1980 David Gale, Harold W. Kuhn, and Albert W. Tucker
• 1979 David Blackwell
• 1978 John F. Nash and Carlton E. Lemke
• 1977 Felix Pollaczek
• 1976 Richard Bellman
• 1975 George B. Dantzig for his work on linear programming

There is also an IEEE John von Neumann Medal awarded by the IEEE annually "for outstanding achievements in computer-related science and technology".

• IEEE John von Neumann Medal
• List of engineering awards
• List of mathematics awards
• Prizes named after people