BALTIMORE, Oct. 19, 2026 — INFORMS, the world’s largest association for professionals and students in operations research, analytics, AI, and data science, has announced that Vera Traub and Jens Vygen have been awarded the 2026 Frederick W. Lanchester Prize for their book, “Approximation Algorithms for Traveling Salesman Problems,” published by Cambridge University Press.
First awarded in 1954, the Lanchester Prize is one of INFORMS' most distinguished honors, recognizing outstanding published contributions to operations research and the management sciences.
The award-winning book addresses one of the field's most enduring mathematical challenges: the Traveling Salesman Problem. The problem asks a seemingly simple question: What is the shortest route that visits a set of locations and returns to the starting point? Despite its straightforward premise, finding optimal solutions becomes extraordinarily difficult as the number of locations increases. The problem has important connections to transportation, logistics, manufacturing and other applications requiring efficient routing and resource allocation.
More than a comprehensive review of existing research, the book introduces original contributions, strengthens previous results and presents sophisticated mathematical techniques with exceptional clarity. By unifying advances across multiple variations of the Traveling Salesman Problem, the authors have created a valuable resource for researchers, educators and students.
Traub, associate professor at the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, is a mathematician and theoretical computer scientist, is being recognized for her research on approximation algorithms and combinatorial optimization. Vygen, a professor of discrete mathematics at the University of Bonn, has made extensive contributions to combinatorial optimization and its applications, including chip design and vehicle routing.
The Frederick W. Lanchester Prize includes a commemorative medallion and a $5,000 cash award. The award will be presented this year at the 2026 INFORMS Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
About the Frederick W. Lanchester Prize
Named in honor of Frederick W. Lanchester (1868–1946), a British engineer whose pioneering use of mathematical models helped lay the foundations for modern operations research, the prize recognizes exceptional published contributions that advance the theory and practice of the discipline.
About INFORMS
INFORMS is the world’s largest association for professionals and students in operations research, AI, analytics, data science and related disciplines, serving as a global authority in advancing cutting-edge practices and fostering an interdisciplinary community of innovation.
With a network of more than 12,000 members spanning academia, industry and government, INFORMS connects thought leaders, experts and emerging professionals who advance and apply AI, mathematics, analytics and other sciences and technologies to solve complex challenges and drive impactful decision-making.
Through its prestigious peer-reviewed journals, world-class conferences, industry-leading certification programs and a suite of professional resources, INFORMS empowers its community to enhance operational efficiency, elevate organizational performance and promote smarter decisions for a better world.
Discover more at www.informs.org
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