203.432.6057

Professor of Operations Research

Professor Swersey's expertise is in quality management, operations management, and mathematical modeling. He has 30 years' experience consulting to firms in statistical process control and quality management and is the co-author of a book on experimental design with applications in marketing and service operations. His expertise in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry is the basis for his study of quality practices and results among Japanese and U.S. PCB firms. Professor Swersey has done research on siting vehicle emissions testing stations, and school bus scheduling, and has developed queuing models for the New York City Fire Department. In his current research he has devised a mathematical model for predicting the severity of prostate cancer based on biopsy results and prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. Prior to coming to Yale, Professor Swersey was with the Rand Corporation where he directed fire and police studies in New York City.

Consultancies
American Express
Xerox Corporation
Uniroyal Chemical Company
Circuit-Wise, Inc.
U.S. Repeating Arms Corporation
Howmedica, Inc.
AM-Gold, Inc.
Latex Foam Products
INCO Engineered Products, Inc.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
City of New York Fire and Police Departments

Achievements and Honors
Faculty Teaching Award from the Executive MBA class of 2010
Excellence in Teaching Award as voted by the graduating class of 2005
Special Faculty Recognition Award from the School of Management Alumni Association as part of the School’s 25th anniversary ceremonies, 2002
Finalist, Franz Edelman Award Competition for Management Science Excellence, 1992
Elm and Ivy Award for Town-Gown Relations, New Haven, CT, 1991
Excellence in Teaching Award as voted by the graduating class of 1989
Co-recipient of NATO Systems Science Prize, 1976
Finalist, Franz Edelman Award Competition for Management Science Excellence, 1974

Books
Testing 1-2-3: Experimental Design with Applications in Marketing and Service Operations (with J. Ledolter), Stanford University Press, 2007

Delivery of Urban Services (with E. Ignall), TIMS Studies in the Management Sciences Series, North Holland/American Elsevier, 1986

Book Chapters
"Quality Activities and Quality Performance of Japanese and U.S. Firms in the Printed Circuit Board Industry" (with S. Ishii and H. Takamori), in P. Lederer and U. Karmarkar, eds., The Practice of Quality Management, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997

"The Deployment of Police, Fire and EMS Units," in A. Barnett, S. Pollock and M. Rothkopf, eds., Operations Research and the Public Sector, Elsevier, 1994

"The Deployment of Urban Emergency Unit: A Survey," (with P. Kolesar) in Delivery of Urban Services, TIMS Studies in the Management Sciences Series, North Holland/American Elsevier, 1986

Selected Articles
"A Plackett-Burman Experiment to Increase Supermarket Sales of a National Magazine" (with G. Bell and J. Ledolter), Interfaces, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2009

"Experimental Design on the Front Lines of Marketing: Testing New Ideas to Increase Direct Mail Sales" (with G. Bell and J. Ledolter), International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol 23, No. 3, 2006

"Using a Fractional Factorial Design to Increase Direct Mail Response at Mother Jones Magazine" (with J. Ledolter), Quality Engineering, Vol 18, No. 4, 2006

"An Evaluation of Pre-Control" (with J. Ledolter), Journal of Quality Technology, Vol. 29, No. 2, 1997

"An Integer Programming Model for Locating Vehicle Emissions Testing Stations" (with L. Thakur), Management Science, 1995

Education
D. Eng. Sci. Columbia University, 1972
MS Columbia University, 1964
BS Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1961