Christopher Thomas Ryan

Christopher Thomas Ryan Contact information
Mailing Address:   Christopher Thomas Ryan
         	   University of British Columbia
         	   Sauder School of Business
         	   Office 463, Henry Angus Building
 	           2053 Main Mall
         	   Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2

Phone:             (604) 822-8435
Email:             chris.ryan[AT]sauder[DOT]ubc[DOT]ca


I'm an associate professor in the Operations and Logistics division in the UBC Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. I obtained my PhD in Management Science at the UBC Sauder School of Business, advised by Maurice Queyranne. Before joining UBC Sauder I was an associate professor of operations management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

I do research in optimization theory, game theory, contract theory, operations management, and video game design. My emerging areas of interest are: operations of education and development, small business operations, the history and philosophy of the science of management, and pedagogy for business education, including K-12.
C.V: [pdf]

Google Scholar page: [link].
Research Papers

Optimization theory
O15. Minimum spanning trees in infinite graphs: Theory and algorithms, (with Robert L Smith and Marina Epelman), to appear in SIAM Journal on Optimization.

O14. Designing optimization problems with diverse solutions, (with Oussama Hanguir and Will Ma), under revision (a preliminary version appears in IPCO 2023).

O13. Online learning to transport with the minimal selection principle, (with Wenxuan Guo, YoonHaeng Hur, and Tengyuan Liang), Proceedings of Machine Learning Research (COLT 2022), Volume 178, 2022, Pages 1-24.

O12. A greedy algorithm for finding maximum spanning trees in infinite graphs, (with Robert L. Smith), Operations Research Letters, Volume 50, Issue 6, 2022, Pages 655-659. [link]

O11. A simplex method for countably-infinite linear programs, (with Archis Ghate and Robert L. Smith), SIAM Journal on Optimization. Volume 31(4), 2021, Pages 3157-3183. [link]

O10. Dual-based methods for solving infinite-horizon nonstationary deterministic dynamic programs, (with Robert L Smith), Mathematical Programming. Volume 187(1), 2021, Pages, 253-285. [link]

O9. The discrete moment problem with nonconvex shape constraints, (with Xi Chen, Simai He, Bo Jiang, and Teng Zhang), Operations Research. Volume 69(1), 2021 Pages 279-296 [link]

O8. Mixed-integer bilevel representability, (with Amitabh Basu and Sriram Sankaranarayanan), Mathematical Programming. Volume 185(1), 2021, 163-197. [link]

O7. Mixed-integer linear representability, disjunctions, and Chvatal functions --- modeling implications, (with Amitabh Basu, Kipp Martin, and Guanyi Wang), Mathematics of Operations Research. Volume 44(4), 2019, Pages 1264-1285. (preliminary version appeared in IPCO 2017). [link]

O6. A simplex method for uncapacitated pure-supply infinite network flow problems, (with Robert L. Smith and Marina A. Epelman), SIAM Journal on Optimization. Volume 161(1), 2018, Pages 2022--2048. [link]

O5. Strong duality and sensitivity analysis in semi-infinite linear programming, (with Amitabh Basu and Kipp Martin), Mathematical Programming. Volume 161(1), 2017, Pages 451--485. [link]

O4. The Slater conundrum: Duality and pricing in infinite-dimensional optimization, (with Kipp Martin and Matt Stern), SIAM Journal on Optimization. Volume 26(1), 2016, Pages 111-138. [link]

O3. Projection: A unified approach to semi-infinite linear programs and duality in convex programming, (with Amitabh Basu and Kipp Martin), Mathematics of Operations Research, vol. 40(1), 2015, Pages 146-170.[link]

O2. On the sufficiency of finite support duals in semi-infinite linear programming, (with Amitabh Basu and Kipp Martin), Operations Research Letters, vol. 42(1), 2014, Pages 16-20.[link]

O1. Parametric integer programming algorithm for bilevel mixed integer programs, (with Matthias Koeppe and Maurice Queyranne), Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, vol. 146(1), 2010, Pages 137-150.[link]


Game theory, contract theory, and welfare economics
G6. Monte Carlo fictitious play for finding a Nash equilibrium of an identical interest game, (with Seksan Kiatsupaibul, Giulia Pedrielli, Robert L. Smith, and Zelda B. Zabinsky), to appear at INFORMS Journal on Optimization.

G5. "Near" weighted utilitarian characterizations of Pareto optima, (with Yeon-Koo Che, Jinwoo Kim, and Fuhito Kojima), Econometrica, 2024, Volume 92, Issue 1, p. 141--165.

G4. A general solution method for moral hazard problems, (with Rongzhu Ke), Theoretical Economics, 2018. Volume 13(3), Pages 1425-1481. [link]

G3. Monotonicity of optimal contracts without the first-order approach, (with Rongzhu Ke), Operations Research. Volume 66(4), 2018, Pages 1101-1118. [link]

G2. Rational generating functions and integer programming games, (with Matthias Koeppe and Maurice Queyranne), Operations Research, vol. 59(1), 2011, Pages 1445-1460.[link]

G1. Computing pure strategy Nash equilibria in compact symmetric games, (with Albert Xin Jiang and Kevin Leyton-Brown), Proceedings of ACM Electronic Commerce (EC), 2010.[link]


Operations management
OM8. Operational transparency: Showing we are different, (with Simai He, Meng Zheng, and Danli Yao), working paper.

OM7. Allocating marketing effort under customer discrimination, (with Jiangze Han and Tim Huh), working paper.

OM6. Valuing influence, (with Hyun-soo Ahn, Joline Uichanco, and Mengzhenyu Zhang), working paper.

OM5. On the performance of certainty equivalent pricing, (with Hyun-soo Ahn, Joline Uichanco, and Mengzhenyu Zhang), under revision.

OM4. Attribute-based pricing: A novel formulation and convergent algorithms, (with Mengzhenyu Zhang, Wei Sun, Shivaram Subramanian, and Markus Ettl), under revision.

OM3. A data-driven approach to modeling assortment optimization: The tractable case of similar substitutes, (with Renjie Chen, Bo Jiang, and Nanxi Zhang), under revision.

OM2. Robust learning of consumer preferences, (with Yifan Feng and Rene Caldentey), Operations Research, Volume 70(2), 2022, Pages 918-962 [link]

OM1. Incentive design for operations-marketing multitasking, (with Tinglong Dai and Rongzhu Ke), Management Science. Volume 67(4), 2021, Pages 2211-2230. [link]


Video game design
V6. Optimal world design in video games, (with Yifu Li and Lifei Sheng, and Benny Wong), working paper.

V5. Managing the release of consumable digital goods in freemium games, (with Chungsang Tom Lam, Michelle X. Wu), working paper.

V4. Strategic timing and pricing for selling bonus actions in video games, (with Lifei Sheng and Xuying Zhao), under revision.

V3. Algorithms for loot box design, Jiangze Han and Xin T. Tong), under revision.

V2. Optimal sequencing in single-player games, (with Yifu Li and Lifei Sheng), Management Science. Volume 69, Issue 10, Pages 5695-6415 [link]

V1. Incentivized actions in freemium games (with Lifei Sheng, Mahesh Nagarajan, Y. Cheng, and C. Tong), Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. Volume 24(1), 2022, Pages 275-284 [link]


Miscellaneous
M1. A non-asymptotic approach to analyzing kidney exchange graphs, (with Yichuan Ding, Dongdong Ge, and Simai He), Operations Research. Volume 66(4), 2018, Pages 918-935. [link]. (preliminary version appeared in ACM-EC 2015 [link])

Case and teaching materials

ReUp Education: Can AI Help Learners Return to College? (with Kris Ferreira and Sarah Mehta). Harvard Business School Case 624-007, October 2023.

ezza: Empowering women through nails. Work in progres.

Kumwe Harvest: Evolving agricultural supply chains in Rwanda. Work in progress.

The Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation: Growing an educational organization in Uganda. Work in progress.

VOCEL: Democratizing brain science in Chicago's public schools. Work in progress.

Advocate Children’s Sleep Network: Tackling sleep apnea at the grassroots. Work in progress.

Faubourg: Tackling employee turnover. Work in progress.

Book projects

Paths to research: A companion to research as a career (with Runshan Fu and illustrations by Mengzhenyu Zhang)

This book tackles the challenge of navigating a career in academic research. It is the culmination of many discussions with students over 7+ years of offering a workshop called "The Art of Research'' to groups of students in Canada, the United States, and China. The intended audience is undergraduate students considering a career in academic research, current PhD students, and young faculty. The book can be studied individually and in groups. The authors (Runshan and Chris) hope to offer workshops based on the book in a variety of settings to help aspiring researchers on their journey towards success as academics.

Linear programming in topological spaces (with Archis Ghate)

This book is in development based on course notes from offerings on infinite dimensional linear programming at the University of Chicago and UBC, with workshops on related topics at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and the Chinese Academy of Science. The target audience of the book is graduate students in operations research, computer science, and economics with no previous exposure to functional analysis and measure theory but only courses in real analysis, linear algebra, and convex or linear optimization.


Other interests

Check out my dad's music and my friend Vaughn Oliver's music.

I volunteer with the Colibri Learning Foundation as a curriculum developer and trainer of other volunteers.