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Ali Abbas

Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Education

  • 2004, Doctoral Degree, Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
  • 2004, Doctoral Degree, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
  • 2002, Master's Degree, Industrial Engineering, Stanford University
  • 1998, Master's Degree, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University

Biography

Dr. Ali E. Abbas is Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Professor of Public Policy, a joint appointment between the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the USC Price School of Public Policy.. Professor Abbas is widely recognized for his deep and wide-ranging contributions to decision analysis, especially in utility theory, multiattribute utility theory, entropy methods, probability encoding, value of information, and decision-making under uncertainty. His scholarship has advanced both the foundations and applications of decision analysis, with influential work on maximum entropy utility, utility copulas, one-switch independence, multiattribute utility functions, target-based decision making, and risk-informed decisions in complex systems.

Professor Abbas is recipient of numerous awards including the Frank P. Ramsey Medal (2026), the highest honor offered by the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS. the IEEE Systems Council Distinguished Lecturer award (2024-2026), and the (2026) Outstanding Professor Award offered by the IEOM Society. Professor Abbas' publication record has had a broad and lasting impact on the field. He received the Decision Analysis Society Best Publication Award in 2011 for "Normative Decision Making with Multiattribute Performance Targets", the IEEE Systems Journal Best Publication Award in 2019 for work on the use of utility theory in engineering design, and the Decision Analysis Journal Clemen-Kleinmuntz 2026 Publication Award for his work on the value of information. On the teaching side, he most recently won the 2026 Viterbi School of Engineering Northrup Grumman Excellence in Teaching award.

Professor Abbas has also made major contributions through numerous books including “Foundations of Multiattribute Utility” by Cambridge University Press, Co-author of “Foundations of Decision Analysis” with Ronald Howard at Stanford University, and “Ethical Decision Quality: Building an Ethical Decision Culture”. He is also editor of numerous books including “Improving Homeland Security Decisions” and “Next-Generation Ethics” by Cambridge University Press.

Professor Abbas has been a prominent ambassador for decision analysis in practice for both national and international policy audiences. At USC, he served as Director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision-Making and as Director of the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. Through these roles, and through his broader professional work, he has promoted the use of decision analysis in government, national security, transportation security, ethical leadership, public policy, and executive education. His work has engaged leaders of organizations including the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. military, and international policy audiences.

Professor Abbas has served as an Associate Editor for Operations Research and Decision Analysis, as an inaugural area editor for the Decision Analysis Department of IIE Transactions, and as guest editor for major special issues including the Operations Research special issue honoring Kenneth Arrow and the Decision Analysis special issue on Decision Analysis and social media. He has also organized numerous conferences and workshops.

Professor Abbas has worked to broaden decision education through public outreach, media Op-eds, TEDx talks, decision-making social networks, and volunteer efforts teaching decision skills to youth including at-risk teens and students in juvenile detention settings. His efforts have helped bring decision analysis to new audiences and demonstrated the field's relevance to personal, organizational, and societal decisions.

Before joining USC, Dr. Abbas was the Art Davis Faculty Scholar in the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to his time at the University of Illinois, Dr. Abbas was a lecturer in the Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, where he also earned his Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering, Ph.D. minor in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems and Operations Research, and M.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Abbas regularly teaches courses on decision analysis and has taught numerous executive education courses at a variety of institutions, such as Stanford University, BP, Southern California Edison, the Department of Homeland Security, and numerous other institutions. In addition to his academic career, Dr. Abbas is recipient of the first cohort of NSF I-Corps award where he founded Ahoona, a decision-making social network that has several thousand users around the world. He has been on the Advisory Boards of Hedge Street Inc., a binary futures exchange, as well as a board member of the Decision Education Foundation and a council member of the Alliance for Decision Education (volunteer nonprofit organizations that empower youth to make better decisions about their lives). Dr. Abbas also has extensive consulting and management experience.


Research Summary

• Decision analysis (broadly defined)
• Utility theory (risk aversion).
• Multiattribute utility theory.
• Probability encoding.
• Behavioral decision making
• Risk analysis for Homeland Security (Broadly defined)
• Risk measures and valuation of risky assets.
• Investment science.
• Information theory (applications to Management Science).
• Systems engineering
• Constructing value functions for engineering design
• Data-based decision making
• Bayesian Networks, Boolean Networks, Neural Networks.

Issued Patents

Abbas, A. E. 2015. United States Patent No. US9171255B2. Method, software, and system for making a decision. Patent Issue Date 10/27/2015.

Abbas, A.E. 2018. United States Patent No. US10078801B2. System, method and software for representing decision trees. Patent Issue Date 9/18/2018

Abbas, A. E. 2013. System, method and software for representing decision trees. Provisional Patent.

A Sample of Some Publications


Books

Howard, R. A., and Abbas, A. E., 2015. Foundations of Decision Analysis; Prentice Hall. NY.

Abbas, A. E. 2018. Foundations of Multiattribute Utility; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Abbas, A. E. 2023. Ethical Decision Quality: Building an Ethical Decision Culture. Ethics Press, Cambridge, UK.

Howard, R. A., and Abbas, A. E. 2024. Advanced Topics in Decision Analysis; In preparation for publication in Springer-Verlag.

Edited Books

Abbas, A. E. 2019. Next-Generation Ethics: Engineering a Better Society. Cambridge University Press.

Abbas, A. E., Tambe, M., and von Winterfeldt, D. 2017. Improving Homeland Security Decisions; Cambridge University Press.

Topical Editor, Decision Analysis area of John Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Sciences. 2009-2011

Co-Editor, Twenty Fifth International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, American Institute of Physics. 2005

Invited Guest Editor

Abbas, A. E, Mellers, B, Salo, A, and Tetlock, P. Decision Analysis journal, Special Issue on the Implications of Advances in Artificial Intelligence for Decision Analysis (In Progress) .

Abbas, A. E, Bell, D. E. 2022. Operations Research, Special Issue honoring Kenneth Arrow. Additional Guest Editors: J. W. Pratt, R. A. Howard, K. McCardle, J. Weyant. K. Schmedders.

Abbas, A. E, Decision Analysis journal, Special Issue on Decision Analysis and Social Media. .

Samples of Book Chapters

Abbas, A. E. 2019. Next Generation Ethics: An Introduction, In Next Generation Ethics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Abbas, A. E, M. Senges, and R. A. Howard. 2019. A Hippocratic Oath for Technologists. In Next Generation Ethics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Vint Cerf and A. E. Abbas. 2019. An Interview with Vint Cerf, In Next Generation Ethics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK.

J. Karandikar, C. Tyler, A. Abbas, and T. Schmitz. 2016. “A Decision Analytic Framework for Optimal Milling Parameter Selection”, in Bayesian Inference: Observations and Applications, , Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Hauppauge, NY (in press).

Abbas, A.E and D. S. Stipanovic. 2016. A combined control-theoretic utility theory approach to maximizing security with limited resources. In Improving Homeland Security Decisions (Eds) A. E. Abbas, M. Tambe, D. von Winterfedlt.

Abbas, A.E. 2016. Some flawed methods of decision making. In Improving Homeland Security Decisions (Eds) A. E. Abbas, M. Tambe, D. von Winterfedlt.

Abbas, A. E. 2011. Constructing Multiattribute Utility Functions for Decision Analysis, INFORMS Tutorials in Operations Research, editor Hasenbein, J. Hanover, MD. pp 62-98.

Invited Papers

Abbas, A. E. and S. Holmes. 2004. Invited Paper. Bioinformatics and Management Science: Some common tools and techniques. Operations Research, 52(2), 165-190.

Abbas, A. E. and Bell, D. E. 2022. Introduction: Special Issue Honoring Kenneth Arrow. Operations Research, 70(3):1293-1295.

Utility Theory

Sun, Z, and A. E. Abbas. 2025. Risk-sharing with a Time Preference. Decision Analysis, Forthcoming.

Abbas, A. E. and G. Hazen. 2025. On the Value of Information Across Decision Problems. Decision Analysis, 22(1):1-13.

Zellner, M and A. E. Abbas. 2023. Experimental Assessment of Utility Functions Induced by Fixed and Uncertain Targets. Decision Analysis. Vol 20 (3), pp 187-201.

Abbas, A. E. and A. Hupman. 2023. Scale Dependence in the Weight and Rate Multicriteria decision making Method. European Journal of Operational Research. Vol 309, (1), pp 225-235

Abbas, A. E. and Z. Sun. 2019. Archimedean Utility Copulas with Polynomial Generating functions. Decision Analysis. Vol 16 (3), pp 218-237.

Fletcher, K.C. and A.E. Abbas. 2018. A Value Measure for Public Sector Enterprise Risk Management: A TSA Case Study, Risk Analysis, 38(5), pp. 991-1008.

Sun, Z and A.E. Abbas. 2018. Pareto Optimality and Risk Sharing in Group Utility Functions IISE Transactions, 50(4) pp. 298-306.

Abbas, A. E., & Hupman, A., On the use of utility functions in engineering design; Systems Engineering; ( Winner of First-Prize Award in Systems Engineering Journal 2019).

Abbas, A. E., & Bell, D. E., Ordinal One-Switch Utility Functions; Operations Research, 63(6), 1411 - 1419; 2015.

Abbas, A. E., & Sun, Z., A Utility Copula Approach for Preference Functions in Engineering Design; ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 137(9), 094501; 2015.

Abbas, A. E., & Sun, Z., Multiattribute Utility functions satisfying Mutual Preferential Independence; Operations Research, 63(2): 378-393; 2015.

C. Valicka, R. A. Rekoske, D. M. Stipanovic, and A. E. Abbas. Multiattribute Utility Copulas for Multi-objective Coverage Control, Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics 5 (2014), pp. 12-34.

Sun Z and A.E. Abbas. 2014. On the Sensitivity of the Value of Information to Risk Aversion in Two-Action Decision Problems. Environment, Systems and Decisions. Special issue on Value of Information (34) 24-37.

Stipanovic D, Valika C and A.E.Abbas. 2014. Control Strategies for Players in Pursuit-Evasion Games Based On Their Preferences. International Game Theory Review 16(2) 144-164.

Abbas, A. E. and J. Chudziak. 2013. One-Switch Utility Functions with Annuity Payments. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 219(14), 7699-7710.

Abbas, A. E. N. Bakir, G. Klutke, Z. Sun. 2013. The Effects of Risk Aversion on the Value of Information in Two-Action Decision Problems. Decision Analysis, 10(3) 257–275.

Abbas, A. E. 2013. Utility Copula Functions matching all Boundary Assessments. Operations Research, 61(2) 359-371.

Abbas, A. E and D. E. Bell. 2012. One-Switch Conditions for Multiattribute Utility Functions. Operations Research, 60(5) 1199-1212.

Abbas, A. E. 2012. Valuing Changes in Investment Opportunities. Operations Research, 60(6) 1451-1460.

Abbas, A. E and D. E. Bell. 2011. One-Switch Independence for Multiattribute Utility Functions. Operations Research, 59(3) 764-771.

Abbas, A.E. 2011. The Multiattribute Utility Tree, Decision Analysis, 8 (3), 180-205.

Abbas, A.E. 2011. Decomposing the Cross-Derivatives of a Multiattribute Utility Function into Risk Attitude and Value, Decision Analysis, 8 (2), 103-116.

Abbas, A. E. 2011. General Decompositions of Multiattribute Utility Functions. Journal of Multicriteria Decision Analysis, 17 (1, 2), 37–59.

Abbas, A. E. 2011. Risk-Adjusted Martingales and the Design of Indifference Gambles. Theory and Decision 71(4) 643-668. Online first, April 4th 2010.

Abbas, A. E and J. Aczél. 2010. The Role of some Functional Equations in Decision Analysis. Decision Analysis, 7 (2), 215–228.

Abbas, A. E and J. Matheson. 2010. Normative Decision Making with Multiattribute Performance Targets. Journal of Multicriteria Decision Analysis, 16 (3, 4), 67–78.

Abbas, A. E and I. Hahn. 2010. Measuring Risk Aversion in a Name-Your-Own-Price Channel. Decision Analysis, 7 (1), 123–136.

Abbas, A. E. 2009. Multiattribute Utility Copulas. Operations Research, 57 (6), 1367-1383.

Abbas, A. 2009. Invariant Multiattribute Utility Functions. Theory and Decision, Special Issue on Foundations of Utility and Risk, FUR, 68 (1, 2), 69-99.

Abbas, A. E. , J. Aczél, J. Chudziak, 2009. Invariance Formulations for Multiattribute Utility Functions under Shift Transformations. Results in Mathematics, 54, 1-13.

Abbas, A. E, R. Bordley and J. Matheson. 2009. Effective Utility Functions from Organizational Target-Based Incentives. Managerial and Decision Economics, 30, 235-251.

Abbas, A. E. 2007. Invariant Utility Functions and Certain Equivalent Transformations. Decision Analysis, 4 (3), 17-31.

Abbas, A. E. 2007. Moments of Utility Functions and Their Applications. European Journal of Operational Research, 180, 378-395.

Abbas, A. E. 2006. Maximum Entropy Utility. Operations Research, 54(2), 277-290.

Abbas, A. E and R. A. Howard. 2005. Attribute Dominance Utility. Decision Analysis 2(4), 185-206.

Abbas, A. E. and J. E. Matheson. 2005. Normative Target-Based Decision Making. Managerial and Decision Economics, 26 (6), 373-385.

Matheson, J. E. and A. E. Abbas. 2005. Utility Transversality: A Value-Based Approach; Journal of Multicriteria Decision Analysis, 13, 229-238.

Abbas, A. E. 2004. Entropy Methods for Adaptive Utility Elicitation. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Science and Cybernetics, 34 (2), 169-178.

Probability Encoding

Zellner M, Abbas AE, Budescu DV, Galstyan A. A survey of human judgement and quantitative forecasting methods. R Soc Open Sci. 2021 Feb 24;8(2):201187.

Budescu, D, A. Abbas, L. Wu. 2011. Does Probability Weighting Matter in Probability Encoding? Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 55 (4), 320-327.

Abbas, A. E, D. V. Budescu, R. Gu. 2010. Assessing Joint Distributions with Isoprobability Contours, Management Science, 56 (6), 997-1011.

Abbas, A.E. 2009. A Kullback-Leibler View of Linear and Log-Linear Pools. Decision Analysis, 6 (1) 25-37.

Abbas, A. E., Budescu, D.V, Yu Hsiu-Ting, Haggerty, R. 2008. A Comparison of Two Probability Encoding Methods: Fixed Probability Wheel vs. Fixed Variable Values. Decision Analysis, 5 (4), 190-202.

Abbas, A. E. 2006. Entropy Methods for Joint Distributions in Decision Analysis. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 53 (1) 146-159.

Decision Analysis in Systems and Engineering Design

Bayesian Inference: Demand Estimation, Auctions, High Speed Machining
Hupman A, Abbas, A and T. Schmitz. 2014. Incentives in high speed milling. Forthcoming in Journal of Manufacturing Systems.

Sun Z, Hupman A, Ritchey H, and A.E. Abbas. 2014. Bayesian Updating of the Price Elasticity of Uncertain Demand. IEEE Systems Journal (Forthcoming)

Karandikar, J., Traverso M, Abbas, A., and Schmitz, T. 2014. Bayesian inference for milling stability using a random walk approach. ASME Journal of Manuf. Science and Engineering (Forthcoming)

Karandikar, J., Schmitz, T., and Abbas, A. 2014. Application of Bayesian Inference to Milling Force Modeling. ASME Journal of Manuf. Science and Engineering (Forthcoming)

Karandikar, J, Tyler, C., Abbas, A., and Schmitz, T. 2014. Value of information-based experimental design: Application to process damping in milling. Precision Engineering (Forthcoming).

Karandikar, J., Abbas, A., and Schmitz, T., 2014, Tool Life Prediction using Random Walk Bayesian Updating, Journal of Machining Science and Technology, 17/3: 410-442

Karandikar, J., Abbas, A., and Schmitz, T., 2014, Remaining Useful Tool Life Predictions in Turning using Bayesian Inference, International Journal of Prognostics and Health Management (Forthcoming)

Karandikar, J., Abbas, A., and Schmitz, T., 2014, Tool Life Prediction using Bayesian Updating, Part 1: Milling Tool Life Model using a Discrete Grid Method, Precision Engineering 38(1), 9-17

Karandikar, J., Abbas, A., and Schmitz, T., 2014, Tool Life Prediction using Bayesian Updating, Part 2: Turning Tool Life using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Approach, Precision Engineering (Forthcoming)

Karandikar, J, T. Schmitz, A. E. Abbas. 2012. Spindle Speed Selection for Tool Life Testing using Bayesian Inference. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 31, 403-411.

Karahan N, and A. E. Abbas. 2011. Measuring Consumer Impatience and Time Preference in a Repeat Bid Name-Your-Own-Price Channel. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 99 (1), 1-14.

Schmitz, T, Karandikar, J, Kim, N, and A. E. Abbas. 2010. Uncertainty in Machining: Workshop Summary and Contributions. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering 133(5).

Gupta A, and A. E. Abbas. 2008. Repeat Bidding on Internet-Based Multiple-Item Name-Your-Own-Price Auctions. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 55(4) 579-589.

Zapata, R, T. Schmitz, M. Traverso, A. E. Abbas. 2009. Value of Information and Experimentation in Milling Profit Optimization. International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2 (5, 6), 580 – 599.

Abbas, A., L. Yang, R. Zapata, and T, Schmitz. 2008. Application of decision analysis to milling profit maximization: An introduction. Int. J. Materials and Product Technology, Vol. 35 (1/2), 64-88. Special Issue on Intelligent Machining.


Published Articles on Decision Analysis for Social Good

Abbas, A. E. , A. Hupman, and R. Monger. 2026. Assessing the Quality of LLM and Human Inputs to a Decision: A Proposed Framework and Two Benchmark Case Studies. Decision Analysis, Forthcoming.

Dagsoy, R and A. E. Abbas. 2025. Examining Trends in Homelessness Research: A Literature Review, Sociology Compass, 19(8) (a Wiley Library journal)

Abbas, A. E. 2024. Ethical Decision Quality: Teaching Students to Make Great (And Ethical) Decisions, OR/MS Today. March, 2024.

Raji, I and A. E. Abbas. 2023. Tackling crime as a systems problem: Opportunities and challenges, ISE Magazine, Vol 55 (10), October 2023.

Orr, L, A. E. Abbas, and J. Dann. 2018. Autonomous Vehicles: Technological Changes and Ethical Challenges. Case Study, Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies-USC Marshal. Also available on Harvard Business Publishing:
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/SCG545-PDF-ENG?itemFindingMethod=Search&parentProductId=SCG545-PDF-ENG

Why we Worry about Flying. Abbas, A. E. CNN Opinion OpEd, May 19th, 2016.

Aviation Security Decisions: Opportunities and Challenges. 2015. (Abbas and Fletcher). ORMS Today. 42(5), 22-25

Teaching Decision Making with Social Networks. 2013. (Abbas). ORMS Today. 40(6), December 2013.

Some Ideas that Triggered My Research. (Abbas) Decision Analysis Today 2012.

Decision Analysis: Past, Present and Future. 2012. (Abbas) ORMS Today. 39(1), 30-33.

Peer-To-Peer Decision Training: Teaching Decision Skills to Troubled Teens. 2011. (Abbas, Herring, Robbins, Simms, and Spetzler), ORMS Today, 38 (4), 42-43.

Peer-To-Peer Decision Training. (Abbas, Herring, Robbins, Simms, and Spetzler). Decision Analysis Today, 29(3), 25-26. 2010.

Teaching Decision Skills to Troubled Teens. (Abbas, Hoffman, Howard, and Spetzler). ORMS Today. 34(4), August 2007.

Teaching Teens How to Make Good Decisions. (Abbas, Reiter, Spetzler, and Tani). ORMS Today. 31(4), August 2004.

Awards

  • 2026 The Frank P Ramsey Medal - Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences The highest honor awarded by the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society
  • 2026 Viterbi School of Engineering Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award
  • 2026 INFORMS Fellow, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
  • 2026 Outstanding Professor Award IEOM - Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society
  • 2025 INFORMS Decision Analysis Journal Best Paper Award
  • 2024 IEEE Systems Council Distinguished Lecturer
  • 2019 IEEE Systems Journal First Prize Award - IEEE Systems Council
  • 2015 Informs Decision Analysis Society: Decision Analysis First Runner up Best Publication Award 2013
  • 2015 Informs Decision Analysis Society: Decision Analysis Second Runner up Best Publication Award 2013
  • 2013 INFORMS Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS: Decision Analysis Best Publication Award 2011
  • 2013 INFORMS Decision Analysis Society: Decision Analysis First Runner up Best Publication Award 2011
  • 2012 National Science Foundation: Inaugural National Science Foundation I-Corps Award
  • 2012 Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Art Davis Faculty Scholar Award
  • 2009 Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Outstanding Teaching Award 2009
  • 2009 Fun Fact: My Erdos number is "Erdos 2" : Only 500 people ever existed with a lower Erdos number.
  • 2008 National Science Foundation: National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Appointments
  • Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Office
  • OHE 310R
  • Olin Hall of Engineering
  • 3650 McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089
  • USC Mail Code: 0193
Contact Information
  • (213) 740-5073
  • aliabbas@usc.edu
Links
Social Media

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