Betty is a Professor in the Mathematical and Data Sciences Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has a Ph.D and M.S. in Operations Research (OR) from Southern Methodist University. She also has a M.S. in Mathematical Sciences from Clemson University and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Louisiana – Monroe. During her career at UNO, she has taught a variety of operations research, mathematics, and computer science courses.
Betty’s research interests are quite varied. Within operations research, she is primarily interested in the development and implementation of algorithms for solving large-scale discrete optimization problems. She has extensive experience in network optimization and parallel computing. She is also interested in metaheuristics for integer programming problems. In recent years, she and her students have developed and implemented (1) integer-programming-based methods for determining the optimal routes for rebalancing the Omaha B-Cycle bike sharing system, (2) ant-colony-optimization methods for scheduling and routing visiting nurses for an insurance company, and (3 - for fun) mathematical programming methods to optimize resource use within World of Warcraft!
Betty is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). She serves on the INFORMS Education Committee and the K-12 Outreach Committee. Over the past five years, she has been PI or Co-PI on two NSF IUSE grants for $600,000 in funding. These grants have resulted in the development and assessment of two new general-education mathematics courses: Introduction to Mathematical and Computational Thinking, and Data Literacy and Visualization.