2025 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Jean Pauphilet, London Business School

Jean Pauphilet
London Business School

“Jean Pauphilet is a standout educator in the LBS’s MBA, MiM, and PhD programs. He teaches the MBA tailored core course in Business Analytics. In a world increasingly shaped by data and uncertainty, Dr Pauphilet equips students with the quantitative mindset and tools to make smarter decisions. His MBA course is structured around three core themes: navigating uncertainty, making strategic decisions over time, and leveraging optimisation for consistently effective outcomes.

Since taking over the course in 2021, Dr Pauphilet has revitalised it through an interactive, modernised approach. He blends case studies, computer workshops, and real-world insights from his research to foster deep, applied learning. He has authored four new original cases—from the energy, green logistics, and healthcare industries—demonstrating both pedagogical innovation and topical relevance.” – School nomination

Jean Pauphilet, 32, is an Assistant Professor of Management Science and Operations at London Business School. He teaches Business Analytics in the MBA program. His research develops new algorithms for machine learning and decision-making, and implements them to solve healthcare and sustainable operations problems. 

He has published over 20 articles in leading academic journals such as Operations Research, Management Science, Mathematical Programming, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and the Journal of Machine Learning Research. His research has been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2019 INFORMS Computing Society Student Paper Award, the 2020 INFORMS George E. Nicholson Student Paper Competition, the 2020 INFORMS M&SOM Data-Driven Challenge, and the 2024 INFORMS Data Mining and Decision Analytics Workshop Theoretical Paper Award. 

Pauphilet’s research in healthcare operations investigates how data and machine learning can help predict patient length of stay and improve operational decisions such as patient flow and staff scheduling. Published in Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, his models have been deployed and are being used in several U.S. hospitals, helping hundreds of healthcare professionals anticipate future patient needs and make better decisions. 

Recently, he has been collaborating with a Dutch NGO to help them collect plastic waste from the oceans faster. With his co-authors, they designed an algorithm that processes complex data about weather and plastic movements and translates it into a recommended route for their plastic collecting system, leading to 60% increase in collection yield. The work, published in Operations Research, received the 3rd prize at the 2025 INFORMS Innovative Applications in Analytics Award.

BACKGROUND

At current institution since what year? London Business School, 2020- 

Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. in Operations Research (2020). 

List of MBA courses you currently teach: Business Analytics

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… I started my Ph.D. I enjoyed doing research from the start and I always enjoyed lecturing people. Academia was an obvious fit. 

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? My research is both methodological and applied. I develop new algorithms to design better predictive and prescriptive analytics tools, but I also work on specific applications and implementations of these tools in practice, especially for healthcare and sustainability. Regarding the applied side of my research, one of the achievements I am most proud of is the development of a machine learning model for predicting patient length of stay and its deployment in several U.S. hospitals, covering more than 1,500 beds.

If I weren’t a business school professor…  I could be an engineering school professor, a researcher in a private company, a consultant, an entrepreneur, … I think I could figure out how to be happy in many other jobs, as long as they are stimulating, impact-driven, and give me some flexibility on how to organize my work. 

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? I am very enthusiastic about analytics and about my research, which translates into high energy in the classroom (even at 8am)! 

One word that describes my first time teaching: Hybrid, unfortunately… Since I started teaching during the COVID pandemic in hybrid mode. 

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: I do not think there is a single way of being a business school professor. Everyone has to find their own. This is what makes this job so unique, and the school such an exciting place for students. 

Professor I most admire and why: My PhD advisor, Prof. Dimitris Bertsimas (MIT), and Prof. Dick den Hertog (University of Amsterdam), for their energy, their unwavering optimism, and their deep sense of purpose. 

TEACHING MBA STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Making new connections with students every year. 

What is most challenging? Focusing on the most important, without all the technicalities. I always ask myself: If students were to remember only 1 minute from this lecture in 10 years, what should it be?

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Anyone who is genuinely trying to learn something new.

In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: The ones that do not show up.

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… Fair.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? I cook, I swim, I spend time with family and friends.

How will you spend your summer? In France, in the Alps and by the sea, with family. 

Favorite place(s) to vacation: By the sea in Bretagne.

Favorite book(s): Recently, I really enjoyed Le Mage du Kremlin (The Wizard of the Kremlin) by Guiliano da Empoli. 

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? I enjoy watching detective series of all sorts (Criminal Minds, NCIS, Bones, Broadchurch, Vera, Poirot, L’Art du Crime, Capitaine Marleau,…). To lighten the mood, Bridget Jones 4 does the job! 

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I have very eclectic tastes. I listen to anything from Mozart to George Moustaki, Akon, or Maneskin. It highly depends on my mood, what I want/need to do while listening, and whether I want to sing along (my singing abilities are fairly limited…).

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… Analytics and Environmental Sciences.

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… Defining their business strategy based on what our environment can tolerate, instead of defining a sustainability strategy based on what their business can tolerate.  

I’m grateful for… The education I received

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