General Motors R&D Chief to Address Operations Research Professionals at Major International Competition; Previous Winner of the Franz Edelman Award to Discuss Operations Research and Its Impact on American Business

HANOVER, Md.--April 24, 2006--Larry Burns, vice president of research & development and strategic planning for General Motors, will speak before the Franz Edelman Academy at the 35th annual Franz Edelman Awards, to be held in Miami on May 1, 2006. Operations Research (O.R.) is the discipline of applying advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions. Each year, the Franz Edelman competition recognizes and rewards outstanding examples of O.R. as it is applied throughout the world in business, government and science.

GM won the 2005 competition for its work in using O.R. to increase productivity at 20 assembly plants in ten countries. In its North American manufacturing plants alone, GM was able to improve productivity by more than 26 percent between 1997 and 2004.

"Operations Research is gaining more visibility as a competitive business advantage and the Franz Edelman Award does a great job of highlighting outstanding O.R. applications," said Burns. "O.R. transforms business decision-making and this is being increasingly recognized by companies around the world."

Burns spearheaded the work that led to the winning bid at the 2005 Edelman Awards and has a long history as an O.R. professional. As head of GM's Research & Development and Strategic Planning activity, headquartered in Warren, Mich., Burns oversees GM's advanced technology, innovation programs and corporate strategy. He is a member of GM's Automotive Strategy Board and Automotive Product Board.

"O.R. is a discipline that has its roots in the mid-20th century, but is essential to helping business tackle the problems of the 21st century," said INFORMS President Mark Daskin. "With more data coming at executives every day, the faster pace of business and the global nature of society, O.R. is more important than ever."

This year, the Franz Edelman Awards will honor its past by inducting winners from the previous 34 years into the Edelman Academy. In attendance will be top executives and practitioners who realized amazing gains by implementing O.R. In addition to GM, past winners include Continental Airlines, Motorola, NBC, IBM and Merrill Lynch.

About General Motors

General Motors Corp. , the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 75 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 327,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM operates one of the world's leading finance companies, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and commercial financing and insurance. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

About INFORMS

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS(R)) is an international scientific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, financial engineering, and telecommunications. The INFORMS website is www.informs.org. More information about operations research is at www.scienceofbetter.org.