By Javier Chagoya

Lt. Timothy Shaffer proudly displays the three awards he was presented with during the Winter Quarter Awards Ceremony in the Barbara McNitt Ballroom, March 17. Shaffer was the recipient of the Monterey Council Navy League Highest Academic Achievement Award, the Military Operations Research Society Stephen A. Tisdale Graduate Research Award, and the Chief of Naval Operations Award for Excellence in Operations Research.

A human resources officer since 2012, Shaffer will be graduating from the university's operations research program. His thesis research explored statistical methods that he hopes will help improve the Navy Region Hawaii's Resident Energy Conservation Program (RECP).

"Our research identifies several solutions for improving the fairness and billing stability of the RECP and employs systematic, evaluative criteria and measures of performance to quantify the potential improvements associated with these solutions," said Shaffer.

Associate Professor Sam Buttrey served as Shaffer's second thesis reader. "Tim is a soft-spoken, very academic officer. But he's also a hard worker and is very smart – a pair of commending traits you find only in certain students … It's been a pleasure working with him," said Buttrey.

A total of 26 graduates were honored during the Winter Quarter Graduation Awards Ceremony. The awardees are slated to graduate, along with 247 of their fellow classmates, during the graduation ceremony in King Auditorium, March 27.