Erin Baker, Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering and faculty director of the Energy Transition Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, received the 2026 Harold Hotelling Medal for Lifetime Achievement Award from the Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment (ENRE) section of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS).
The award honors Dr. Baker “for her outstanding policy-engaged, community-centered contributions to understanding technological change, sustainable and just energy transitions, energy systems modeling and economics, dedicated graduate student mentorship, and service to ENRE and INFORMS.”
A UMass Amherst faculty member since 2002, Dr. Baker is known for her methodological expertise in operations research and economics, with a particular focus on methods for decision-making under uncertainty applied to energy and the environment. Her work has led to significant research contributions in the areas of energy systems modeling, energy economics, energy and climate policy analysis, technological change, energy and environmental justice, and integrated assessment modeling.
Dr. Baker is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in applied mathematics. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in engineering economic systems and operations research from Stanford University.