Alan L. Austin was president of Targeted Learning, an organizational development training and consulting company. He was one of the first certified as an INFORMS CAP (Certified Analytics Professional). He also held Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) and Quality Engineer (CQE) certifications from the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Alan has led quality improvement efforts and held operational roles for a variety of organizations both in the United States and overseas. He has a bachelor of science in statistics from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Houston, where he concentrated on studying statistics/operations research and finance.