His research interests are in mathematical programming and related areas. His work has appeared in almost all major journals in the Management Science/Operations Research/Decision Sciences area including Management Science, Operations Research, Decision Sciences, Transportation Science, INFORMS Journal on Computing, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Heuristics, Annals of Operations Research, and Networks, Computers & Operations Research, etc. He received the prestigious Decision Sciences Institute Elwood S. Buffa Doctoral Dissertation Competition Award in 1993 and the Decision Sciences Institute Best Theoretical/Empirical Research Paper Award twice, once in 2003 and once in 2006.

At UTSA, Professor Sun teaches courses in management science/operations management and business statistics at the undergraduate, MBA and doctoral levels. He received the University of Texas System Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award in 1999.

• Multiple Objective Programming
• Integer Programming
• Network Flow Problems
• Facility Location Problems
• Data Structures with Composite Keys
• Mathematical Programming Approaches for Classification
• Heuristic Solution Procedures for Hard Optimization Problems.

“Mathematical Formulation and Exact Solution for Landing Location Problem in Tropical Forest Selective Logging: a Case Study in Southeast Cameroon,” with J. Philippart, J.-L. Doucet and P. Lejeune,  Journal of Forest Economics, forthcoming, 2012.

“A Tabu Search Heuristic Procedure for the Capacitated Facility Location Problem,” Journal of Heuristics, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2012, pp. 91-118.

“A Primogenitary Linked Quad Tree Approach for Solution Storage and Retrieval in Heuristic Binary Optimization,” European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 209, No. 3, 2011, pp. 228-240.

“A Mixed Integer Programming Model for Multiple-Group Discriminant Analysis,”  International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2011, pp. 1-2.

“Finding Integer Efficient Solutions for Multiple Objective Network Programming Problems,” Networks, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2011, pp. 362-375.

“Linear Programming Approaches for Multiple-Class Discriminant and Classification Analysis,” International Journal of Strategic Decision Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010, pp. 57-80.

“A Primogenitary Linked Quad Tree Data Structure and Its Application to Discrete Multiple Criteria Optimization,” Annals of Operations Research, Vol. 147, No. 1, 2006, pp. 87-107.

“Solving Uncapacitated Facility Location Problems Using Tabu Search,” Computers and Operations Research, Vol. 33, No. 9, 2006, pp. 2563-2589.

“New Multiobjective Metaheuristic Solution Procedures for Capital Investment Planning,” with C. Stummer,  Journal of Heuristics, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2005, pp. 183-199.

“Some Issues in Measuring and Reporting Solution Quality of Interactive Multiple Objective Programming Procedures,” European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 162, No. 2, 2005, pp. 468-483.

“Warm-Start Routines for Solving Augmented Weighted Tchebycheff Programs in Multiple Objective Network Programming,” INFORMS Journal on Computing, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2005, pp. 422-437.

“TABU MACHINE: A New Neural Network Solution Approach for Combinatorial Optimization Problems,” with H. Nemati, Journal of Heuristics, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2003, pp. 5-27.

“A Mathematical Programming Approach for Gene Selection and Tissue Classification,” with M. Xiong, Bioinformatics, Vol. 19, No. 10, 2003, pp. 1243-1251.

“Procedures for Finding Nondominated Solutions for Multiple Objective Network Programming Problems,” Transportation Science, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2003, pp. 139-152.

“A Multiple Objective Programming Approach for Determining Faculty Salary Equity Adjustments,” European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 138, No. 2, 2002, pp. 302-319.

“The Transportation Problem with Exclusionary Side Constraints and Two Branch-and-Bound Algorithms,” European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 140, No. 3, 2002, pp. 629-647.

“Interactive Multiple Objective Programming Using Tchebycheff Programs and Artificial Neural Networks,” with A. Stam and R. E. Steuer, Computers & Operations Research, Vol. 27, No. 7-8, 2000, pp. 601-620.

“Applying GIS and Combinatorial Optimization to Fiber Deployment Plan,” with B. Cao and C. Macleod, Journal of Heuristics, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1999, pp. 385-402.

“A Tabu Search Heuristic Procedure for Solving the Transportation Problem with Exclusionary Side Constraints,” Journal of Heuristics, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1998, pp. 305-326.

“Determining Buffer Location and Size in Production Lines Using Tabu Search,” with C.M. Lutz and K. R. Davis,  European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 106, No. 2-3, 1998, pp. 301-316.

“A Tabu Search Heuristic Procedure for the Fixed Charge Transportation Problem,” with J. E. Aronson, P. G. McKeown and D. Drinka, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 106, No. 2-3,1998, pp. 441-456.

“A Multiple Objective Embedded Network Model for Human Resource Planning and an Implementation of the Tchebycheff Method,” with D. Drinka and B. Murray, Decision Sciences, Vol. 27, No. 2, 1996, pp. 319-341.

“InterQuad: An Interactive Quad Tree Based Procedure for Solving the Discrete Alternative Multiple Criteria Problem,” with R. E. Steuer,  European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 89, No. 3, 1996, pp. 462-472.

“Quad Trees and Linear List for Identifying Nondominated Criterion Vectors,” with R. E. Steuer,  INFORM Journal on Computing, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1996, pp. 367-375.

“Solving Multiple Objective Programming Problems Using Feed-Forward Artificial Neural Networks: The Interactive FFANN Procedure,” with A. Stam and R. E. Steuer,  Management Science, Vol. 42, No. 6, 1996, pp. 835-849.

“The Parameter Space Investigation Method for Multiple Objective Nonlinear Programming: A Computational Investigation,” with R.E. Steuer, Operations Research, Vol. 43, No. 4, 1995, pp. 641-648.