The 2026 Annual Midwest Optimization Meeting
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About the 2026 Annual Midwest Optimization Meeting
Optimization is a central area of applied mathematics and plays an important role in many scientific and engineering advances.
The 2026 meeting will bring attention to several active and closely related research directions, including nonsmooth optimization and generalized differentiation, optimal control, partial differential equation constrained optimization and nonlinear, nonconvex and stochastic optimization, along with new applications in, but not limited to, AI and machine learning, statistics, data science and biology.
- Date: Oct. 30-31, 2026
- Location: University Student Union, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007
- Organizers: Matthew Biesecker, Eun-Heui Kim and Trang Nguyen
- Registration: Free, but registration will close at 11:59 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026
Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at George Mason University and the Director of the Center for Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence
Albert and Dorothy Marden Professor in the School of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota
Chancellor’s Professor and the James R. Cox Professor of Mathematics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Member of the Institute for Foundations of Data Science
Professor and Chair of Applied Mathematics at the University of California, Merced
Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics at Wayne State University
Friday, Oct. 30, 2026
| Time | Session | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Access agenda booklet | -- | ||
| 8 a.m. | Welcome desk opens | -- | ||
| 8:30-9:30 a.m. | Plenary talk 1 | TBA | ||
| 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Plenary talk 2 | TBA | ||
| 10:30-10:45 a.m. | Morning break | -- | ||
| 10:45-11:15 a.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 11:15-11:45 a.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 12:15-1:30 p.m. | Lunch | Provided at conference | ||
| 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Plenary talk 3 | TBA | ||
| 2:30-3 p.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 3-3:30 p.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 3:30-3:45 p.m. | Afternoon break | -- | ||
| 3:45-4:15 p.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 4:15-5:15 p.m. | Plenary talk 4 | TBA | ||
| 5:15-6 p.m. | Panel discussion | -- | ||
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
| Time | Session | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 a.m. | Access agenda booklet | -- | ||
| 8 a.m. | Welcome desk opens | -- | ||
| 8:30-9:30 a.m. | Plenary talk 1 | TBA | ||
| 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Plenary talk 2 | TBA | ||
| 10:30-10:45 a.m. | Morning break | -- | ||
| 10:45-11:15 a.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 11:15-11:45 a.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. | Contributed talks | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 12:15 p.m. | Lunch and Closing remarks | -- | ||
Travel Support
If you plan to apply for a travel award, please submit your registration by Sept. 15 and indicate your interest in applying for travel support when you register. You'll be contacted by the organizers and asked to provide the following:
- Letter of support from a mentor or adviser (in the case of students and postdoctoral researchers only)
- CV
- Statement on the importance of attendance
Hotels
Due to several large events taking place in Brookings that same weekend, hotel availability is limited. We encourage you to make your reservations as soon as possible. Here are some options:
- Quality Inn Brookings-University (514 Sunrise Ridge Road, Brookings, SD 57006)
- With rates ranging from $105 to $140 plus tax per night.
- Free cancellation until Oct. 26.
- Country Inn & Suites by Radisson (3000 Lefevre Drive, Brookings, SD 57006)
- With rate of $149 plus tax per night.
- Cut-off date: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
- Hampton Inn & Suites Brookings (3017 Lefevre Drive, Brookings, SD 57006). Phone: 605-697-5232.
- Garner Hotel Brookings by IHG (3020 Lefevre Drive, SD 57006). Phone: 605-692-9060.
- With nightly rate plus tax:
- Sunday through Thursday
- Standard Rooms: $130.
- Studio Suites: $150.
- Friday and Saturday
- Standard Rooms: $229.
- Studio Suites: $249.
- Cutoff date: Oct. 1, 2026
- Sunday through Thursday
- With nightly rate plus tax:
If you prefer to reserve by phone, please refer to the group booking name: Midwest Optimization Meeting 2026.
Nearest Airport:
- Sioux Falls Airport (FSD): There are approximately 55 miles between Brookings and the Sioux Falls Airport.
- Transportation:
Campus Parking
- Campus parking map
- Friday: Lot 159
- Saturday: TBA
The first Midwest Optimization Meeting was organized at Western Michigan University in 1997 in order to bring the experts, early-career researchers and graduate students from the nearby states, working in the field of variational analysis, to meet and discuss the recent developments in the state of the art of this rapidly growing subject. Since then, 27 meetings have been held in 14 different places in the Midwest.
This meeting has been a one-day event and has grown slowly in size. The attendance has ranged from 50 to 90, with approximately 90% of the participants have been domestic. Typically, there are contributed talks given by world leaders in the field, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with recent outstanding results.
- 2025 University of North Dakota, North Dakota
- 2024 University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- 2023 University of Michigan, Michigan
- 2022 University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- 2021 Grand Valley State University, Michigan
- 2020 Online
- 2019 University of Northern Illinois, Illinois
- 2018 Miami University, Ohio
- 2017 Oakland University, Michigan,
- 2016 Michigan State University, Michigan
- 2015 Loyola University Chicago, Illinois
- 2014 Loyola University Chicago, Illinois
- 2013 University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada
- 2012 Western Michigan University, Michigan
- 2011 Fields Institute, Ontario, Canada
- 2010 Wayne State University, Michigan
- 2009 Western Michigan University, Michigan
- 2008 Western Michigan University, Michigan
- 2007 University of Michigan, Michigan
- 2006 Miami University, Ohio
- 2005 Western Michigan University, Michigan
- 2004 Wayne State University, Michigan
- 2003 Oakland University, Michigan
- 2002 University of Michigan, Michigan
- 2001 Western Michigan University, Michigan
- 1998 Western Michigan University, Michigan
- 1997 Western Michigan University, Michigan
