Poyraz Bozkurt

Ph.D. Student Fuqua School of Business Duke University Contact Email: poyraz.bozkurt[AT]duke.edu

Updates AUG 2023 Started Ph.D. Program at Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. JUN 2023 Interned at Fidelity Investments AI, Boston. OCT 2022 Presented Dynamic Bandits at INFORMS Annual Meeting, Indianapolis.

Education

Ph.D. Student in Operations Management, Duke University
M.S. in Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, 2023

Research

Dynamic pricing, revenue management, statistical learning, machine learning, applied probability, platform operations.

Working Papers

• Markdown Pricing with Heterogeneous Behavioral Customers: Strategic Waiting Meets Reference Dependence
  with N. Bora Keskin and Jing-Sheng Song
  Extended abstract (PDF)

Teaching

Math Instructor for 2025 Ph.D. Math Bootcamp, Duke University

• Designed and taught foundational mathematics modules including linear algebra, real analysis, and optimization to incoming doctoral students.
• Teaching Evaluation: 4.7 / 5.0
• View Syllabus (PDF)

Work / Internship Experience

Summer Research Intern at Artificial Intelligence Department, Fidelity Investments, Boston, Massachusetts, 2023

• Developed a Bandits-Based Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search Solver (BALANS)
• ML guided heuristics to solve combinatorial optimization problems

Activities

Ph.D. Program Liaison, Duke University Fuqua School of Business (2025–)
Organization Member, Fuqua Ph.D. Student Organization (STAGE) (2024–2025)

Art, Favorite Books, and Quotes

Art

I enjoy exploring modern art and abstract designs. My favorite artist is Wassily Kandinsky, whose work blends emotion and geometry seamlessly.

Favorite Books

• Philosophy: Who Needs It by Ayn Rand
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman