Dick Forrester

Professor of Mathematics and Data Analytics

B.A., Alfred University, 1995
M.S., Clemson University, 1997
Ph.D., 2002

Contact Information

Phone: 717-245-1668
Email: forrestr@dickinson.edu
Office: Tome 235

Personal Information

I am a Professor of Mathematics and Data Analytics at Dickinson College. I graduated from Alfred University in 1995 with a BA in mathematics and a minor in computer science. I completed my Ph.D. at Clemson University in Mathematical Sciences and joined the Dickinson faculty in 2002. I served as the co-chair of the Department of Data Analytics from 2021-2024 and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science from 2013-2017.

I'm originally from a small town in Western NY called Almond, which is an hour south of Rochester. I've been training in the martial arts for over 40 years and was recently promoted to Rokudan (6th degree black belt) with the title Renshi.

Course and Advising Information

Spring 2025:
Math 121-01 (Elementary Statistics): TR @ 9:00am
Math 121-02 (Elementary Statistics): TR @ 10:30am
Math 262 (Linear Algebra): MR @ 1:30pm

Office Hours: Mondays 9:00am-10:00 am, Tuesdays 1:30-2:30pm, Wednesdays 1:30-2:30 pm, and by appointment.

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

Research Interests

My scholarship is at the interface of operations research, computer science, and data analytics. Operations research applies mathematical and computational methods to decision-making, often in scenarios that require optimizing scarce resources. The majority of my research has centered around the development of techniques for solving discrete nonlinear programs. I am also interested in applying mathematical modeling and data-driven approaches to real-world challenges. Recent projects include balancing faculty and student preferences in assigning students to first-year seminars and creating machine learning-based heuristics for solving combinatorial optimization problems.

Teaching Interests

As an applied mathematician, my teaching interests primarily center around data analytics, statistics, operations research, computational mathematics, and algorithms. I also regularly teach linear algebra and discrete mathematics.

Selected Publications and Book Chapters

Forrester, R. and J. Chu, "The First-Year Seminar Assignment Problem: A Multi-Objective Optimization Approach," to appear in The UMAP Journal.
Forrester, R, E. Marshall, J. Forrester, D. Richeson, and J. Schaefer, "Launching a Data Analytics Major: How Collaboration and Agility Built a Successful Program," The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 132 (1), pp 77-88, 2025.
Forrester, R., and L. Waddell, "Modeling Using Logical Constraints," Encyclopedia of Optimization, Pardalos, P.M., Prokopyev, O.A. (eds), Springer, 2023.
Forrester, R., and L. Waddell, "Linearization Strategies for Binary Quadratic and Higher-Order Polynomial Programs," Encyclopedia of Optimization, Pardalos, P.M., Prokopyev, O.A. (eds), Springer, 2023.
Forrester, R., "Crop Rotation Modeling," Encyclopedia of Optimization, Pardalos, P.M., Prokopyev, O.A. (eds), Springer, 2023.
Forrester, R., and L. Waddell, "Strengthening a Linear Reformulation of the 0-1 Cubic Knapsack Problem via Variable Reordering," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Vol. 44, 498-517, 2022.
Forrester, R., and E. Marshall, "Beyond Technical Skills: The Case for a Liberal Arts Approach to Data Analytics," Education Reimagined, July 2021.
Forrester, R., and N. Hunt-Isaak, "Computational Comparison of Exact Solution Methods for 0-1 Quadratic Programs: Recommendations for Practitioners," Journal of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 2020, Article ID 5974820, 21 pages, 2020.
Bouzarth, E., R. Forrester, K. Hutson, R. Reddoch, “Assigning Students to Schools to Minimize Both Transportation Costs and Socioeconomic Variation Between Schools,” Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Vol. 64, pp 1-8, 2018.
Bouzarth, E., R. Forrester, K. Hutson, R. Isaac, J. Midkiff, D. Rivers, and L. Testa, “A Comparison of Algorithms for Finding an Efficient Theme Park Tour,” Journal of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 2018, Article ID 2453185, 14 pages, 2018.
Forrester, R., and M. Rodriguez, “An Integer Programming Approach to Crop Rotation Planning at an Organic Farm,” UMAP Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp 5-25, 2018.
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, No. 2, 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 Recipe for Concise Mixed 0-1 Linearizations,” 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.

Selected Student Research Projects

Advanced Greedy Algorithms for 0-1 Cubic Knapsack Problems, William Cheng (2023-2024)
Course Time-Slot Scheduling, Dung Ha (fall 2023)
First-Year Seminar Assignment Problem, John Chu (fall 2022 - fall 2023)
Supervised Machine Learning Based Heuristics for the Quadratic Multidimensional Knapsack Problem, Dzung Dinh (spring 2023)
Heuristics for 0-1 Cubic Knapsack Problems, Noah Hunt-Isaac (2019-2020)
A Computational Study of Solution Techniques for 0-1 Quadratic Programs, Noah Hunt-Isaac (summer 2018)
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)

Media

Web Links

Operations Research