Dessislava Pachamanova

Dr. Pachamanova is Professor and Zwerling Family Endowed Term Chair at Babson College and Research Affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research and consulting span multiple fields, including robust optimization, risk management, simulation, predictive analytics and machine learning, text analytics, and operations. She has authored and coauthored dozens of articles in operations research, finance, accounting, engineering, marketing and management journals, including in top academic and practitioner outlets such as Management Science, Operations Research, Journal of Portfolio Management, Mathematical Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Marketing Management, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Dr. Pachamanova has also published numerous book chapters, as well as three books in computational finance and risk management: Robust Portfolio Optimization and Management (2007), Simulation and Optimization in Finance: Modeling with MATLAB, @RISK, or VBA (2010), and Portfolio Construction and Analytics (2016), all part of The Frank J. Fabozzi Series in Finance, J. Wiley & Sons.

Dr. Pachamanova teaches courses in analytics and computational finance in the undergraduate and the MBA programs, and cares deeply about creating a valuable learning experience for students. She co-designed Babson's undergraduate and MBA business analytics concentration curricula, co-chaired the design task force for a Masters program in Business Analytics, and co-developed the Business Analytics and Machine Learning MBA concentration. She has also served as faculty director for two open enrollment business analytics programs at Babson Executive Education, Business Analytics for Managers (face-to-face format) and the Babson-Pearson Business Analytics for Managers in India program (online/blended format), and has designed numerous modules on business analytics for custom executive education programs. Her cases, pedagogical innovations and interdisciplinary curriculum development research have appeared in peer-reviewed educational journals such as INFORMS Transactions on Education, Journal of Accounting Education, IMA Educational Case Journal, and Journal of Information Systems Education, and have been recognized with Babson's Deans Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Graduate School and with Poets and Quants' Top 50 Undergraduate Professors award.

Dr. Pachamanova serves on the INFORMS Professional Development Committee, the INFORMS OR & Analytics Student Team Competition Committee, the INFORMS Pro Bono Analytics Committee, and is Area Editor (Cases) for INFORMS Transactions on Education. She holds an A.B. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Academic Degrees

• Ph D, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• AB, Princeton University

Academic Interest / Expertise

• Business Analytics; Operations Research; Machine Learning; Risk Management; Healthcare Operations; Computational Finance

Awards & Honors

• 2021 — Winner (with L. Berk Wheelock), 2021 INFORMS Data Mining Section Best Paper Competition, INFORMS Data Mining Section
• 2021 — Zwerling Family Endowed Term Chair, Dean of College, Babson College
• 2021 — Finalist (with D. Nersessian), Best Interdisciplinary Paper Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business
• 2020 — Winner (with V. Tilson and K. Dwyer-Matzky), 2020 INFORMS Case Competition, INFORMS
• 2018 — Top 50 Undergraduate Professors, Poets & Quants
• 2018 — Zwerling Family Endowed Research Scholar, Dean of Faculty, Babson College
• 2016 — PwC Grant, Business Analytics, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• 2015 — Zwerling Family Endowed Research Scholar, Dean of Faculty, Babson College
• 2014 — Women Who Make a Difference Award Nominee, Babson College
• 2013 — BFRF Excellence in Scholarship Award, Babson Faculty Research Fund
• 2012 — Babson Research Scholar, Dean of Faculty, Babson College
• 2012 — BFRF Summer Stipend Grant, Babson Faculty Research Fund
• 2009 — BFRF Excellence in Scholarship Award, Babson Faculty Research Fund
• 2008 — Course Release Grant, Board of Research, Babson College
• 2008 — Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, Dean of Faculty, Babson College
• 2007 — Summer Stipend Grant, Board of Research, Babson College
• 2006 — Major Grant Award (3 Course Releases), Board of Research, Babson College
• 2006 — Zwerling Term Chair, Dean of Faculty, Babson College
• 2004 — Best Presentation Award of the Financial Services Section of INFORMS, Financial Services Section of INFORMS
• 2004 — Young Researcher Roundtable, INFORMS Conference on OR/MS Practice
• 2003 — Gill Grant, Board of Research, Babson College
• 2003 — Course Release Grant, Board of Research, Babson College
• 2003 — Course Release Grant, Board of Research, Babson College