Everything computes
Engineering
professor makes
his mark in
multiple ways
By Kristin Copenhaver
Tikkun olam — striving to
improve and transform the
world — is what drives Kenneth
Chelst each day.
Chelst, a longtime Wayne State
University College of
Engineering professor,
rabbi, author and would-be
comedian, is committed to
bettering the world. "Part of
my responsibility is to use my
skills to do so," he says. "That's
a large part of what drives me. I
want to make an impact."
While his captive audiences of
students with "nowhere to go"
are the primary beneficiaries
of his comedic talents, Chelst's
more bankable operations
research skills have helped
corporations save tens of
millions of dollars, cities better
serve constituents, and schools
better educate students.
Early in his 30-plus-year career,
Chelst worked with the City
of Detroit on a plan to better
allocate police resources and
cut average response time by
more than 40 percent. He also
partnered with friends and
Wayne State alumni, such as
Jim Anderson, Urban Science
founder, president and CEO,
to develop groundbreaking
mathematical models that are
still used as industry standard
all around the world.
He designed the Professional
Engineering Management
Master's Program (EMMP)
at Wayne State in 1992,
partnering with Ford Motor
Company on large-scale
projects with colossal potential
impact, and leads capstone
projects for undergraduate
industrial and systems
engineering students. "Our
EMMP projects are some of
the biggest projects of their
kind in the world. And our
undergraduates this year alone
carried out remarkable studies
for Henry Ford Health System
and General Motors."
The world-renowned operations
research expert remains
dedicated to public safety
management, something he
first worked on for his doctoral
dissertation at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. He's
a founding member of the
International City Management
Association (ICMA) Center for
Public Safety Management,
It's one of Chelst's other
projects, however, that may
result in his most long-term
impact on the world.
As chair of the Institute for
Operations Research and
the Management Sciences
conference in 1994, Chelst was
told that he needed to include
a program for high school
teachers. At the end of the
conference, he realized there
was nothing those teachers
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students' multistep math
problem-solving skills, it
presents practical problems
such as how to help your
parents pick a cell phone
plan, how to choose a college
or university, how to plan
inventory for a hot item, how
to create more nutritional diets
and much more.
Kenneth Chelst (left) worked with INSU professor Torn Edwards
on outreach efforts at Seminario Cajon del Maipo in Chile.
The Frankel Jewish Academy
of Metro Detroit was one of
the first to adopt the program
(mindsetproject.org ), with
more than 50 percent of
Frankel seniors opting to take
the course in its first year.
Foreign countries interested in
updating and enhancing their
curricula and teacher outreach
efforts are showing interest in
adopting MINDSET, too. Chelst
recently returned from his
second trip to Chile to educate
teachers and students on the
merits of the curriculum.
Chilean students study Chelst's innovative MINDSET method.
which helps city managers
respond to challenges cited by
city police and fire chiefs.
In 2009, Chelst published
Exodus and Emancipation, a
well-received book (pictured
above) comparing the
experience of the enslaved
Israelites with that of African
American slaves. He also has
written a Kaddish pamphlet for
a major metro Detroit funeral
home and is working on a book
for parents to share with their
children at the Passover Seder.
could take back with them to
use in the classroom.
The realization led to Chelst
co-authoring a math activities
workbook to help teach math
in a more applied, realistic
context. Then came a book.
Then came another book.
Mathematics Instruction
Using Decision Science and
Engineering Tools (MINDSET)
is now the go-to final year
curriculum for dozens of
schools across the United
States. Designed to enhance
With his jokes successfully
translating — "with only slight
delay" — in Chile, it's his
combined arsenal of skills and
expertise in operations research
that will undoubtedly have an
immeasurable impact on the
world.
"Math has relevance in
everything," Chelst says.
"I want students to know
about operations research as
a field of study, and I want to
change the way people look
at the world."
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Copenhaver is associate director
of marketing for the College of
Engineering.
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