Jochen Koenemann

Jochen Koenemann is a full professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization and has served as Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics since July 2025. His academic work focuses on approximation algorithms, combinatorial optimization, and game theory, connecting theoretical computer science with operations research and real-world decision-making. He served as chair of Combinatorics and Optimization for a total of six years.

He earned a Diplom in Computer Science from Universitaet des Saarlandes in 1998 (advisor: Naveen Garg) and completed a PhD in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization at Carnegie Mellon University in 2003 (advisor: R. Ravi).

Service contributions include co-editing Mathematical Programming, Series A (2018-2020) and Elsevier's Journal of Computer and System Sciences (2015-2018), as well as program committee work for conferences such as STOC, SODA, and IPCO. He served on the IPCO steering committee from 2018 to 2024 and co-organized Banff International Research Station workshops on approximation algorithms and hardness of approximation in 2017, 2023, and 2026.

From 2019 to 2025, he served as an Amazon Scholar focused on optimization problems in global transportation; selected results appear in this 2023 European Journal of Operational Research article. In 2019, he collaborated with SickKids Hospital and University of Waterloo colleagues, including Prof. Ricardo Fukasawa and surgeons Drs. Phillips and Drake, on analytical tools that support craniosynostosis surgery planning; see this SickKids project overview.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)