Best Prof: Gad Allon

Gad Allon

Associate Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences

Age: 37

Institution: Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

Hometown: Herev Leet, Israel

Marital Status:  Married

Children: Three – ages 9, 4, and 1

Education: Columbia University, PhD, Decisions, Risk, and Operations, Columbia University

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, MS, Operations Research and Systems Analysis

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, BS, Industrial Engineering, Management

Courses: Operations Management

Operations Strategy

Has taught The Science of Lean Six Sigma and Leading Strategy Change to members of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Kellogg’s executive education program.

At Kellogg since: 2005

Extracurricular Activities: Professor Allon’s blog, The Operations Room, is a popular forum for discussing current topics in operations management.

Fun Fact: I run an annual charity “Operations Fantasy Baseball League,” in which students bid to participate in a fantasy baseball league.

If you’re like Gad Allon, you despise poor customer service. Using game theory and queuing theory in his research, he’s doing something about it. Allon’s research applies a novel approach to the study of service operations. In one study, he proves how delay announcements made by service organizations can be used most efficiently by the service providers and customers alike. The research shows that strategic use of wait messages can ultimately improve firm profits and utility to customers.

Although he is widely recognized for his academic research, this professor stands out most for his unique ability to do one thing: teach! He develops new teaching tools with an emphasis on experiential learning and bringing state-of-the-art research into the classroom. In 2009 he won Kellogg’s Professor of the Year award, the most prestigious faculty award a professor can get in the full-time MBA program, and he is a two-time recipient of the Chair Core Course award for his core Operations Management course.

Students Say:

“Professor Allon is one of the most engaging, insightful, and supportive professors I have ever had. His teaching style brings operations to life and in the process of doing so, leaves you with not only key business insights, but also a more grounded perspective on life. Furthermore, Professor Allon goes to great lengths to ensure his students succeed not only in the classroom, but also on the job. In fact, he was very helpful in helping me think through my summer internship project. His guidance enabled me to provide my team’s client with key insights that I may have otherwise missed. I’m greatly looking forward to taking another one of his courses later this year!” — Jose Ochoa, Kellogg MBA class of 2011

“Professor Allon turned a quantitatively challenging class into an experience that was fun, interesting, interactive and valuable. He taught with passion and commitment that brought out the best in students as well. He is committed to his students for a lifetime. I remember the night before my final exam my laptop memory went bad and it was essential to have our laptops for the final. After hours of trying to fix it I emailed him at 4:15am asking how important it was to have the laptop. Expecting to wake up at 8am and possibly see a reply I quickly walked home to get some rest. On the way home at around 4:30am I got a reply to my email. I was very surprised. I was thinking ‘what is he doing up this late?’ Well he told me the next morning that he woke up in the middle of the night to answer any last minute questions students may have had. That really tells you why this man is an outstanding professor who commands a lot of admiration at Kellogg.” — Sultan Mehrabi, Kellogg MBA Class of 2009

“I had the privilege of being Professor Gad Allon’s student in Operations Management in spring 2007 and, although a core class, it was one of my best classes at Kellogg. From the first class one could tell how energetic, thoughtful, and committed to his students Gad was. To make the material more applicable to our future careers, in addition to the cases, Gad provided many real-life examples which made the learning much more effective. In addition to his great teaching skills, Gad was also very accessible to us: he held office hours, roamed between the group meetings and also over the phone. Reflecting on my Kellogg experience two years out, Professor Allon was definitely one of my best professors!” — Boaz Shedletsky, Kellogg MBA Class of 2008

Gad Allon is among “The World’s 40 Best B-School Profs Under the Age of 40“