Vidyadhar G. Kulkarni

Vidyadhar G. Kulkarni is an Indian-American operations researcher and academic. He is professor emeritus in the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as its first department chair (2003–2009).

Education Kulkarni received a B.Tech. in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1976. He earned an M.S. in operations research in 1978 and a Ph.D. in operations research in 1980, both from Cornell University. The title of his thesis was "Ladder Processes for Markov and Semi-Markov Chains".

Career Kulkarni joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. He served as chair, Department of Operations Research (2000–2003). and, following departmental reorganization, as chair of the Department of Statistics and Operations Research (2003–2009).

His research has focused on stochastic modeling, queueing theory, service systems, telecommunications, and healthcare operations. The red book: Modeling and Analysis of Stochastic Systems

He recently published an undergraduate text, An Introduction to Discrete Mathematics

His research has appeared in journals including Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, European Journal of Operational Research, and Queueing Systems.