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Peng Shi

  • Robert R. Dockson Assistant Professor in Business Administration
  • Assistant Professor of Data Sciences and Operations

Peng Shi is the Robert R. Dockson Assistant Professor in Business Administration at USC Marshall School of Business. His research focuses on designing systems that better match individuals to opportunities they value, addressing critical questions across diverse settings.

His work spans two primary areas. One stream improves public resource allocation systems including school choice, affordable housing, and organ donation. The second enhances digital marketplaces that connect customers with providers, such as those operated by Amazon, Angi, Google, and Yelp. Across both domains, he employs tools from optimization, game theory, and data analysis to develop models that solve real-world problems.

Peng's contributions have earned significant recognition, including the 2024 INFORMS Frederick W. Lanchester Prize, the 2025 Jagdish Sheth Impact on Practice Award, the 2022 WINE Best Paper Award, and the 2020 MSOM Responsible Research in OM Award. He also received the 2017 ACM SIGecom Doctoral Dissertation Award.

As an educator, Peng has demonstrated excellence in teaching. He has received the Golden Apple Teaching Award twice (2021 and 2025) and the DSO Department Excellence in Teaching Award (2019). He currently teaches Algorithmic Thinking with Python (DSO-576) and Optimization Modeling for Prescriptive Analytics (DSO-577).

Prior to joining USC Marshall in 2017, Peng earned his PhD in Operations Research from MIT, where he helped design a new student assignment system for Boston Public Schools that was implemented in 2013. He subsequently spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research New England.

Through his research, Peng bridges theory and practice to create solutions that help organizations make better decisions about allocating scarce resources and connecting people to the opportunities they need.

Peng Shi

Areas of Expertise

Digital Platforms
E-commerce
Market Efficiency
Matching
Mechanism Design
Online Advertising
Operations Management
Optimization
Platforms
Public Housing
School Choice

Programs

MS Business Analytics (MSBA)

Departments

Data Sciences + Operations

Centers + Institutes

Initiative on Digital Competition

RESEARCH + PUBLICATIONS

AWARDS