Ruth Kaufman
{{Short description|British operations research specialist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ruth Kaufman
| education = Mathematics and Social Sciences from the University of Sussex
| known_for = Contribution to the field of operational research
| awards = Companion of OR
| honours = OBE "for services to Operational Research"
}}
Ruth Kaufman OBE is a British specialist in operations research (OR). {{As of|2018}} she is a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics, where her role is to create links between academics and OR practitioners, and also practises as a consultant.{{cite web|title=Ruth Kaufman: Visiting Senior Fellow|url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/Mathematics/people/Associate-Academics/Kaufman-Ruth|website=Department of Mathematics|publisher=London School of Economics|accessdate=3 February 2018}}
Education
Kaufman has a B.A. (1974) in mathematics and social sciences from the University of Sussex.
Career
She has worked in OR in the fields of transport and electricity, and as a principal OR analyst at the Department of Health. Staying in government posts, she led the OR unit of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) and became the chair of the Government Operational Research Service and chair of the Heads of OR Forum. She was head of strategy, change and OR at the ECGD before retiring from that post in 2008.
She was the president of the Operational Research Society 1 January 2016 - 31 December 2017.{{cite web|last1=Hoyles|first1=Celia|title=Female Presidents for Three Maths Societies|url=https://ima.org.uk/8604/female-presidents-three-maths-societies/|publisher=Institute of Mathematics and its Applications|accessdate=3 February 2018|date=December 2017}} She was a co-founder of the society's Pro Bono OR scheme, launched in 2013.{{cite web|title=What is Pro Bono O.R.?|url=http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/WhatisProBonoOR.aspx|publisher=Operational Research Society|accessdate=3 February 2018}}
Other activities
Outside work she was chair for five years to 2014 of Woman's Trust, a charity supporting women in London who face domestic violence.{{cite web|title=Annual report 2015|url=http://www.womanstrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Womans-Trust-2014_2015-accounts-type-signed.pdf|publisher=Woman's Trust|accessdate=3 February 2018|page=5}}{{cite web|title=Mission Statement|url=http://www.womanstrust.org.uk/mission-statement/|publisher=Woman's Trust|accessdate=3 February 2018}}
Recognition
In 2011 she was made a Companion of OR, an award "for sustained support and encouragement for the development of Operational Research".{{cite web|title=Companion of O.R.|url=https://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Awards/Companion.aspx|website=Previous awards|publisher=Operational Research Society|accessdate=3 February 2018}}
In the 2016 New Year Honours she was appointed OBE "for services to Operational Research".{{cite web | url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2454208 | title=Order of the British Empire: Ms Ruth KAUFMAN | website=The Gazette| date=31 December 2015}}{{cite web|title=New Year Honours at LSE|url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/website-archive/newsAndMedia/newsArchives/2016/01/New-Year-Honours-at-LSE.aspx|publisher=London School of Economics|accessdate=3 February 2018|date=5 January 2016}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufman, Ruth}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Alumni of the University of Sussex
Category:British operations researchers
Category:British women mathematicians
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
{{UK-mathematician-stub}}