Draft:Les Servi

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Les Servi
Born
United States
Alma materBrown University (Sc.B., Sc.M.); Harvard University (Ph.D.)
Known forQueueing theory (Bernoulli schedules; working‑vacation queues); distributional form of Little's law; critical‑node analysis; applications of OR to cyber, defense, and public health
Scientific career
FieldsOperations research
InstitutionsThe MITRE Corporation; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Harvard University
Doctoral advisorYu-Chi "Larry" Ho

Leslie David Servi is an American mathematician in operations research. He served as Chief Scientist for Cyber Operations Research at the MITRE Corporation,[1] is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS),[2] and the Military Operations Research Society (MORS),[3] and served as the 57th president of MORS (2022–2023).[4]

Servi's research includes contributions to queueing theory, including working‑vacation queues and Bernoulli schedules.[5] His paper with Steven G. Finn, "M/M/1 queues with working vacations (M/M/1/WV)," has been cited over 800 times as of September 2025.[6] With Julian Keilson he developed oscillating random‑walk models for GI/G/1 vacation systems with Bernoulli schedules,[7] a contribution widely cited in the literature on vacation systems.[8] Also with Julian Keilson, he introduced a distributional form of Little's law,[9] a widely used relation in queueing theory; the 50‑year retrospective on Little's law in Operations Research underscores its continuing importance.[10]

Servi also worked on early methods for detecting sentiment shifts in social media.[11]


Early life and education

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Servi earned combined Sc.B. and Sc.M. degrees in applied mathematics from Brown University, under the supervision of Lawrence Sirovich, and his Ph.D. in engineering from Harvard University under Y. C. Ho.[12]

Career

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Early career

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Servi worked in research roles at Bell Labs, Verizon Laboratories, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, focusing on telecommunications performance analysis and queueing models. He also held visiting roles at MIT and Harvard University.[13]

MITRE Corporation

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In 2009 he joined the MITRE Corporation, where he became Chief Scientist for Cyber Operations Research.[1] His projects included system criticality analysis and analytics for public health and social media. He co‑authored methods for detecting sentiment shifts in social media,[11] and presented on the topic for INFORMS.[14]

Government service

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Certificate of Appreciation from James R. Clapper, 2016
  • Member, Defense Science Board (DSB), Counterinsurgency (COIN) Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operations (2011).[15]
  • Member, DSB Summer Study, Capabilities for Constrained Military Operations (2016).[16]
  • Led analytics for the Department of Defense Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) on COVID‑19 medical supply chains.[17][18]
  • Received a Certificate of Appreciation from James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence (2016).

Selected publications

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  • Servi, Leslie D.; Finn, Steven G. (2002). "M/M/1 queues with working vacations (M/M/1/WV)". Performance Evaluation. 50 (1): 41–52. doi:10.1016/S0166-5316(02)00057-3. Retrieved September 16, 2025. — cited over 800 times as of September 2025.[19]
  • Keilson, Julian; Servi, Leslie D. (1986). "Oscillating random walk models for GI/G/1 vacation systems with Bernoulli schedules". Journal of Applied Probability. 23 (3): 790–802. doi:10.2307/3214016. JSTOR 3214016. — widely cited in the literature on vacation systems.[20]
  • Keilson, Julian; Servi, Leslie D. (1988). "A distributional form of Little's law". Operations Research Letters. 7 (5): 223–227. doi:10.1016/0167-6377(88)90035-1. hdl:1721.1/47244. — presents a distributional form of Little's law, a widely used relation in queueing theory.[21][22]
  • Servi, Leslie D. (2003). "Nested square roots of 2". American Mathematical Monthly. 110 (4): 326–330. doi:10.1080/00029890.2003.11919968.
  • Servi, Leslie D. (2013). "Analyzing social media data having discontinuous emotional content". Operations Research Letters. 41 (6): 635–640. doi:10.1016/j.orl.2013.08.011. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  • Elson, Sara Beth; Servi, Leslie D. (2014). "A mathematical approach to gauging influence by identifying shifts in the emotions of social media users". IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems. 1 (4): 180–190. doi:10.1109/TCSS.2014.2369425 (inactive September 18, 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2025 (link)

Selected Patents

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  • US 5381546, Keilson, Julian; Servi, Leslie David, "Stochastic processes for vacation systems with Bernoulli schedules", published January 17, 1995 
  • US 9015089, Elson, Sara Beth; Servi, Leslie David, "Identifying and forecasting shifts in the mood of social media users", published April 21, 2015 

Professional service

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Awards

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Talks and media

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  • "O.R. & National Security" – Resoundingly Human podcast (INFORMS).[27]
  • "Analyzing social media data having discontinuous underlying dynamics" – INFORMS talk (2013), YouTube.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "More Problems, More Solutions: Cyber Chief Scientist Explores Endless Possibilities". MITRE. March 14, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "INFORMS Fellow: Leslie D. Servi". INFORMS. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "MORS Fellows". Military Operations Research Society. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Past Presidents". Military Operations Research Society. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  5. ^ Fiems, Dieter (2025). "Queues with Working Vacations: A Survey". Mathematics. 13 (11): 1894. doi:10.3390/math13111894.
  6. ^ "Google Scholar: "M/M/1 queues with working vacations (M/M/1/WV)"". Google Scholar. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  7. ^ Keilson, Julian; Servi, Leslie D. (1986). "Oscillating random walk models for GI/G/1 vacation systems with Bernoulli schedules". Journal of Applied Probability. 23 (3): 790–802. doi:10.2307/3214016. JSTOR 3214016.
  8. ^ "Google Scholar: "Bernoulli schedules" Keilson Servi". Google Scholar. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  9. ^ Keilson, Julian; Servi, Leslie D. (1988). "A distributional form of Little's law". Operations Research Letters. 7 (5): 223–227. doi:10.1016/0167-6377(88)90035-1. hdl:1721.1/47244.
  10. ^ Simchi‑Levi, David; Trick, Michael A. (2011). "Introduction to "Little's Law as Viewed on Its 50th Anniversary"". Operations Research. 59 (3): 535. doi:10.1287/opre.1110.0941.
  11. ^ a b Servi, Les; Elson, Sara Beth (2014). "A Mathematical Approach to Gauging Influence by Identifying Shifts in the Emotions of Social Media Users". IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems. 1 (4): 180–190. doi:10.1109/TCSS.2014.2384216.
  12. ^ "Leslie David Servi". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  13. ^ "Alumni profile: Deriving impact". Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. November 6, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Analyzing social media data having discontinuous underlying dynamics". YouTube. 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  15. ^ "Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on COIN ISR Operations" (PDF). Defense Science Board. 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  16. ^ "Defense Science Board 2016 Summer Study on Capabilities for Constrained Military Operations" (PDF). Defense Science Board. 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  17. ^ "DoD establishes task force to meet U.S. medical equipment needs". U.S. Army. March 26, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  18. ^ "USD(A&S) sets up Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF)". Defense Acquisition University. March 25, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  19. ^ "Google Scholar: "M/M/1 queues with working vacations (M/M/1/WV)"". Google Scholar. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  20. ^ "Google Scholar: "Bernoulli schedules" Keilson Servi". Google Scholar. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  21. ^ Harchol‑Balter, Mor (2013). Performance Modeling and Design of Computer Systems. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43–46.
  22. ^ Simchi‑Levi, David; Trick, Michael A. (2011). "Introduction to "Little's Law as Viewed on Its 50th Anniversary"". Operations Research. 59 (3): 535. doi:10.1287/opre.1110.0941.
  23. ^ "INFORMS Names 2001 Board of Directors" (Press release). INFORMS. December 18, 2000. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  24. ^ "INFORMS Names 2002 Board of Directors; Lewis Becomes President" (Press release). INFORMS. December 29, 2001. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  25. ^ "INFORMS Board of Directors Takes Office with MIT Expert on Air Congestion as President" (Press release). INFORMS. January 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  26. ^ "Data Science Advisory Board". WPI. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  27. ^ "O.R. & National Security: From Pearl Harbor to European football to slicing salami". INFORMS. August 10, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
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