The story of operational research in Greece

The Hellenic Operational Research Society (HELORS) is one of the oldest, and its members have one of the highest densities in the country’s general population. The persistent drive and unrelenting effort of General R. Spanoyannakis led to the Society’s founding, and he was its first chairman. It now has its own offices and seminar rooms to support its extensive activities for training managers from government and business in Operational Research OR related disciplines. In addition to citing relevant historical and quantitative facts, this paper discusses the Society’s role and effectiveness in spreading knowledge of Operational Research OR methods in public and private enterprises in Greece.