Laurie A. Garrow

Biography

Professor Laurie Garrow’s research focuses on developing and applying advanced data-driven methods to understand air travel behavior and forecast demand. Her work integrates discrete choice modeling, econometrics, and market research techniques to inform aviation planning, scheduling, and revenue management. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and the ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize for her contributions to discrete choice modeling and airline decision support systems. Her expertise in aviation has been featured widely in media outlets including CNN, USA Today, the LA Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, BBC, and Bloomberg, and she has contributed invited opinion pieces to Barron’s and Scientific American.

Dr. Garrow has published extensively on airline passenger behavior, travel demand modeling, and emerging aviation technologies. She is the author of Discrete Choice Models of Air Travel Demand and has served in several leadership roles within INFORMS and AGIFORS. Prior to joining academia, she spent five years in industry at United Airlines and Mercer Management Consulting. She has advised more than 30 graduate students, including several NSF Graduate Research Fellows, Eisenhower Fellows, and multiple recipients of the Airport Cooperative Research Program Graduate Research Award.

Research

Dr. Garrow’s research applies advanced data analytics and discrete choice modeling to understand air travel behavior, forecast demand, and inform aviation and transportation policy. Her work integrates emerging aviation technologies with insights into passenger preferences to support efficient, responsive, and future-oriented mobility systems.

Education

B.S.             North Carolina State University             1995

B.A.             North Carolina State University             1995

M.P.Affs.      University of Texas at Austin               1997

M.S.            University of Texas at Austin                 1997

Ph.D.           Northwestern University                        2004

Teaching

During her tenure at Georgia Tech, Dr. Garrow has taught a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, travel demand modeling, data analytics, discrete choice methods, revenue management, and airline planning. Her teaching, featured in OR/MS Today, emphasizes assessing learning outcomes and understanding student experiences in flipped classroom environments.

Distinctions & Awards
  • 2023 CIOS Award
  • Spring 2023 and Fall 2023 CIOS honor roll
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize
  • Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) Class of 1940 Teaching Effectiveness Award
  • Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) Class of 1969 Teaching Scholar Program
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award
  • Council of University Transportation Centers – American Road & Transportation Builders Association (CUTC-ARTBA) New Faculty Member Award
  • Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning/BP (CETL/BP) Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
  • International Association of Travel Behavior Research (IATBR) Eric Pas Dissertation Prize, honorable mention
  • Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Aviation Applications Dissertation Prize, first place
Publications
  1. Sadrini, M., Adamidis, F., Garrow, L., and Antoniou, C. (2025). Implementation challenges in urban air mobility: A multi-criteria evaluation in Germany vs. the United States. Journal of Air Transport Management 126: 102780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102780.
  2. Garrow, L.A., Mokhtarian, P.L., German, B.J., Glodek, J.S., and Leonard, C.E. (2025). Market segmentation of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi commuting service. Transportation Research Part A 191: 104267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104267.
  3. Boddapalli, S.-S., Garrow, L.A., German, B.J., and Newman, J.P. (2024). Mode choice analysis for an electric vertical take-off and landing air taxi commuting service. Transportation Research Part A 181: 104000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104000.
  4. Garrow, L.A., Lurkin, V., and Marla, L. (2022). Airline innovations soar during COVID-19. Operations Research Forum 3(14): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43069-022-00131-1.
  5. Hotle, S., Mumbower, S., and Garrow, L.A. (2022). Highly debated but still debundled: How U.S. airline ancillaries evolved over the last decade. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management.  pp. 18. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41272-022-00388-5.
  6. Rex, J., Ballard, D., Garrow, L., Mills, R.W., and Weingart, D. (2022). A new GIS database documenting the prevalence of U.S. air service development incentives. Journal of Air Transport Management 98: 102148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2021.102148.
  7. Roy, S., Kotwicz Herniczek, M.T., Leonard, C., German, B.J., and Garrow, L.A. (2022). Flight scheduling and fleet sizing for an airport shuttle air taxi service. Journal of Air Transportation 30(2): 49-58. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.D0265.
  8. Garrow, L.A. and Lurkin, V. (2021). How COVID-19 is impacting and reshaping the airline industry. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management 20(1): 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41272-020-00271-1.
  9. Garrow, L.A., German, B.J., and Leonard, C.E. (2021). Urban air mobility: A comprehensive review and comparative analysis with autonomous and electric ground transportation for informing future research. Transportation Research Part C 132: 103377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2021.103377Most downloaded paper in last 90 days on Transportation Research Part C as of February 2022.
  10. Haan, J., Garrow, L.A., Marzuoli, A., Roy, S., and Bierlaire M. (2021). Are commuter air taxis coming to your city? A ranking of 40 cities in the United States. Transportation Research Part C 132: 103392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2021.103392.

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