The Mathematical Optimization Society (MOS) is an international organization dedicated to the promotion and the maintenance of high professional standards in the subject of mathematical optimization.

The MOS is incorporated as a non-profit tax-exempt scientific organization in the United States. It publishes the journals Mathematical Programming A and B, consisting of technical articles on all aspects of the subject; the journal Mathematical Programming Computation, for articles with a computational focus; the MOS/SIAM Series on Optimization, comprising monographs and texts on particular optimization topics; and the newsletter Optima. Every three years the Society sponsors the International Symposium on Mathematical Programming (ISMP). In other years, it supports the Conference on Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimization (IPCO) and the International Conference on Continuous Optimization (ICCOPT).

Some background documents on MOS and its activities that the Society has produced from time to time are:

• An account of the history and procedures of the Society by Philip Wolfe, written in the mid-1980s. First appeared in Optima.
• The MPS brochure, written in 2000, is no longer available. A new one is in progress and will come up soon. For a hard copy of the old brochure, including pictures, please send a request to service@mathopt.org.

Bylaws and Constitution

More detailed information is available in the following:

• MOS Bylaws, including Prize Rules [pdf] (Jan 29, 2011)
• Current Constitution [pdf]

Technical Sections

• The Stochastic Programming Society (SPS)
• Mixed Integer Programming Society

Tax Returns

MOS is a tax-exempt organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code

The tax returns of the last few years may be downloaded here:

• 2020
• 2021
• 2022

MOS Photo Album

MOS History: Photo Album

MOS Officers

List of current and past MOS Officers

What is mathematical optimization?

In a mathematical optimization (or programming) problem, one seeks to minimize or maximize a real function of real or integer variables, subject to constraints on the variables. The term mathematical optimization refers to the study of these problems: their mathematical properties, the development and implementation of algorithms to solve these problems, and the application of these algorithms to real world problems. Note in particular the word "programming" does not specifically refer to computer programming. In fact, the term "mathematical programming" was coined before the word "programming" became closely associated with computer software. This confusion is sometimes avoided by using the term optimization as an approximate synonym for mathematical programming.

We have selected a few web sites here that give more information about mathematical optimization and its many subdisciplines, including pointers to further reference sources. We've chosen these sites for their wide scope and their non-commercial, informational nature. Please get in touch with us if you know about other informational sites of potential interest.

• NEOS Server: State-of-the-Art Solvers for Numerical Optimization at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery web site.
• Mathematical Programming Glossary (used to be "Harvey Greenberg's Mathematical Programming Glossary").
• Arnold Neumaier's page on Global (and Local) Optimization

See the Links page for more information.