In Memoriam: Jerry Banks (1939‒2012)

Jerry Banks, professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, passed away on September 25, 2012, surrounded by his family. Jerry’s passion for and knowledge of simulation was remarkable, and he will be fondly remembered for this as well as his ability to enrich the lives of tens of thousands of people from all over the world.

Jerry came to ISyE as an assistant professor in 1965 and retired as a professor in 1999. He then worked for two years as Senior Simulation Technology Advisor for Brooks Automation, Planning and Logistics Solutions AutoMod Product Team. Following that, he served as a professor at Technológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech). He was the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of thirteen books, one set of proceedings, several chapters in texts, and numerous technical and other papers.

For over 35 years, Jerry served the simulation community in a variety of ways. Among his many contributions are the following:

• Jerry was a leading contributor to the infrastructure of the Winter Simulation Conference (WSC). In particular, Jerry was the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Representative to the WSC Board of Directors during the period 1984–1992. He served as the Board Chair from 1989–1991, and he was Board Liaison for the 1987 WSC. Jerry was the General Chair for the 1983 WSC, the Associate General Chair in 1982, and the Arrangements Chair for the 1981 WSC.
• Jerry was especially active in his “missionary work” all over the world on behalf of the simulation field. He was well-known for his top-selling undergraduate simulation text (co-authored with John Carson, Barry Nelson, and David Nicol), which is in use at scores of universities. In addition, Jerry edited the Handbook on Simulation, which garnered an Excellence Award from the Association of American Publishers. Jerry also wrote numerous “popular” columns dealing with simulation issues; this work can be found in such widely read magazines as OR/MS Today and various IIE publications. Further, Jerry gave countless domestic and international lectures espousing the benefits of simulation, and he was recognized as an outstanding speaker.
• Jerry has contributed a great deal to our field on the scholarly side. He was best known for his research on verification and validation and on simulation language comparisons, though he also worked in fields as diverse as inventory theory and queueing theory.

Jerry will be remembered for his terrific sense of humor, his exceptional skill as a teacher, and his tremendous dedication to our profession. In fact, Jerry was the recipient of the 1999 Distinguished Service Award given by what is now the INFORMS Simulation Society.

Jerry is survived and sorely missed by his wife Nancy Silver Banks, his children and grandchildren, and his many friends and colleagues.