On behalf of the entire LIDS community, let me welcome you to the Fall 2013 volume of LIDS|ALL. Within these pages you’ll find interviews and news that provide a picture of the activities within our Lab and the people for whom LIDS serves as their MIT home. As you look through this issue, our website, our new Facebook page, and MIT news releases, I believe you’ll find that LIDS is not only a dynamic and fulfilling place for all who call it home, but also an intellectual community whose contributions to and leadership in the broad field of information and decision systems continues to grow, receiving significant recognition within MIT and throughout the world. We are delighted to share these glimpses into our professional home.

In this issue you will find an interview with Rachel Cohen, one of the members of our outstanding administrative staff. You’ll also find interviews with two of our senior graduate students, Ammar Ammar and Kimon Drakopoulos, whose contributions to LIDS extend well beyond their own research to service to the entire LIDS community. Vahideh Manshadi, one of our cadre of superb postdoctoral researchers, is also interviewed in this volume, as are Professor Dimitri Bertsekas, LIDS Alumna Angelia Nedich, who is on the faculty of the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Henrique Malvar, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist of Microsoft Research and a member of the LIDS Advisory Committee. In addition, you’ll find information about honors and awards received by members of the LIDS Community You will also find information on and photos of many of the activities during this past year including the exceptional annual LIDS Student Conference.

As some who read this already know, I’ll be stepping down as Director of LIDS at the end of the 2013 calendar year. It has been and continues to be a pleasure and privilege to serve as LIDS Director, working with this community of exceptional individuals who continue to make LIDS an inspiring and energizing place to be. The future for LIDS is bright, and, as a member of the LIDS community, I look forward to participating in and witnessing the accomplishments yet to come.

Sincerely,