Dr. Rajan Batta is a SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo. The SUNY Distinguished Professorship is the highest academic rank available in the SUNY system, conferred by a vote of the SUNY Board of Trustees. He has a Bachelor of Technology degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Batta has made a major impact in the area of urban operations research, a branch of Operations Research (OR) concerned with logistical and planning applications impacting services such as emergency response, disaster logistics and national security.

He has received numerous prestigious awards including the Dr. David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award, the highest research award given by the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). A Fellow of IIE, Batta is noted for his extensive scholarship in location and queuing theory, districting and routing, and as a national leader in the area of urban policing and public safety. He has been PI or co-PI on over $13 million of externally funded research, and has served as department editor or editorial board member of four OR journals.

Batta has had a significant impact on the next generations of OR scholars, having advised 41 doctoral and 46 masters students and currently advising six more dissertations. Many of his former students are now leaders at nationally renowned companies and major academic institutions worldwide. Examples of doctoral student placement from the academic side include Texas A&M, Tsinghua University and the Naval Postgraduate School. Examples of doctoral student placement from the industry side include AT&T, United Airlines and the IBM Watson Research Center.