Spring 2018 Information
Math/Comp 241-01: Numerical Methods (MWF @ 10:30am-11:20pm in Tome 121)
Math/Comp 241-02: Numerical Methods (MWF @ 9:30am-10:20pm in Tome 121)

I have partnered with DataCamp to help my students to learn to program in R.

Office Hours: Monday 1:30–2:30pm, Wednesday 1:30–2:30 pm, and Thursday 10:30–11:30am

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I completed my Ph.D. at Clemson University in Mathematical Sciences and joined the Dickinson faculty in 2002. I just finished a four-year term as chair of the department and was recently promoted to Professor.

I'm originally from a small town in Western NY called Almond, which is south of Rochester. My wife and I have two sons, John and Spencer, both of whom are in elementary school (family photo). I've been training in the martial arts for over 30 years and I am the advisor and head-instructor for the Martial Arts Club on campus. In 2013 I had both of my hip resurfaced with the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) system (read about it here) because of severe arthritis caused by femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).

My scholarship is at the interface of operations research and computer science. Operations research is a scientific approach to analyzing problems and making decisions, usually under conditions requiring the allocation of scare resources. The majority of my research has centered around the development of techniques for solving problems that can be modeled as nonlinear 0-1 programs. I am also interested in modeling and analyzing real world problems.

Curriculum Vitae [pdf file]

Bouzarth, E., R. Forrester, K. Hutson, R. Isaac, J. Midkiff, D. Rivers, L. Testa, “A Comparison of Algorithms for Finding an Efficient Theme Park Tour,” submitted for review.

Forrester, R., and M. Rodriguez, “An Integer Programming Approach to Crop Rotation Planning at an Organic Farm,” submitted for review.

Bouzarth, E., R. Forrester, K. Hutson, R. Reddoch, “Assigning Students to Schools to Minimize Both Transportation Costs and Socioeconomic Variation Between Schools,” to appear in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences.

R. Forrester, “Tightening Concise Linear Reformulations of 0-1 Cubic Programs," Optimization, Vol. 65, No. 4, pp 877-903, 2016.

Hutson, K., S. Hedetniemi, and R. Forrester, “Constructing Gamma-Sets of Grids,” Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing,Vol. 95, pp 3-26, 2015.

Forrester, R., and K. Hutson, “Balancing Faculty and Student Preferences in the Assignment of Students to Groups, ”Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp 131-147, 2014.

Forrester, R., K. Hutson, and T. To. “Improving the Quality of the Assignment of Students to First-Year Seminars,” OR Insight, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp 120-139, 2013.

Forrester, R., W. Adams, and P. Hadavas. “Concise RLT Forms of Binary Programs: A Computational Study of the Quadratic Knapsack Problem,” Naval Research Logistics, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp 1-12, 2010.

Forrester, R., and H. Greenberg. “Quadratic Binary Programming Models in Computational Biology,” Algorithmic Operations Research, Vol. 3, pp 110-129, 2008.

Adams, W., and R. Forrester. “Linear Forms of Nonlinear Expressions: New Insights on Old Ideas,” Operations Research Letters, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp 510-518, 2007.

Adams, W., and R. Forrester. “A Simple Approach for Generating Concise Linear Representations of Mixed 0-1 Polynomial Programs,” Operations Research Letters, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp 55-61, 2005.

Adams, W., R. Forrester, and F. Glover. “Comparisons and Enhancement Strategies for Linearizing Mixed 0-1 Quadratic Programs,”Discrete Optimization, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp 99-120, 2004.

Heuristic Approaches to Nonlinear 0-1 Knapsack Problems, James Midkiff (2016-2017)

Construction of Test Problems for the 0-1 Quadratic Knapsack Problem, Peixin Sun (2016-2017)

The Time Dependent Traveling Salesman Problem: Efficient Algorithms to Tour Hersheypark, James Midkiff (summer 2016)

Linearization Strategies for 0-1 Nonlinear Fractional Programs, Tyler Ralston (2014-2015)

Dickinson College Vehicle Fleet Analysis, Tyler Ralston (2014-2015)

Optimal Crop Rotation at the Dickinson College Farm, Miguel Rodriquez (2011-2012)

Mathematical Techniques for Assigning First-Year Seminars, Thanh To (2010-2011)

Coefficient Shifting to Improve Glover's Linearization of the Heavist k-Subgraph Problem, Jared Lease (2007-2008)

Amusement Mathematics (Dickinson News, Summer 2016)
Welcome, With Strong Spirit (Dickinson News, Winter 2016)
Adult Action Figure (Dickinson News, Fall 2015)
Farming 2.0 (Dickinson Magazine, Winter 2014)
Back on the Grid (Dickinson News, Summer 2012)
Better Living Through Mathematics (Dickinson News, Summer (2012)
Karate Club Demonstrates Skills (The Sentinel, April 2009)
A Solid Bet (Dickinson Magazine, Spring 2007)
Winning Numbers (WHP--CBS Channel 21, February 2006)
Street-Fighting Men Find a New Groove (Dickinson Magazine, Summer 2004)

Operations Research

Institute for Operations Research and the Managment Sciences
Mathematical Programming Glossary
Educational Programs in Operations Research

Professional Associations

INFORMS
Mathematical Association of America
American Mathematical Association
American Statistical Association
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Other

Alpha Chi Rho national fraternity