The Mathematics Statistics and Operational Research Network has been working hard for the last few years in its support of mathematics and statistics. Its support of OR has however been limited to funding small oneoff projects. The problem has been that it has never had anyone on the main team with a prime OR commitment. This has not been for want of trying! However that is now changing as Dr Ian Cooper has joined the team having retired recently from his role as Principal Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. Ian has taught there for many years but has also spent some seven years in industry in the middle of his career. Ian’s prime objective is the development of the Network’s support for OR. He is currently working with members of the statistics team based at the RSS Centre for Statistical Education.
