Faculty Experts

Huseyn Abdulla is an assistant professor of supply chain management in the Haslam College of Business. He earned his Ph.D. degree in operations management at Mays Business School, Texas A&M University. His research focuses on sustainable operations, retail operations, and behavioral operations management. His manuscripts have appeared in Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management journals. His work in the Journal of Operations Management has received an Honorable Mention at 2020 Jack Meredith Best Paper Award. In 2022, he received an outstanding reviewer service runner-up award by the Journal of Operations Management, where he acts as a member of the Editorial Review Board.

Dr. Abdulla has taught operations management and sustainable operations courses at Mays Business School and teaches manufacturing and service operations management at Haslam College of Business.

Alan Amling is a TED speaker and thought leader on harnessing digital disruption for success. Alan helped drive innovation over a 27-year career with UPS and is currently a Fellow at The University of Tennessee, CEO of advisory firm Thrive and Advance LLC, and on the Executive Advisory Board for the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. He researches, invests, advises, and speaks on innovation in manufacturing and logistics and how firms can recognize and thrive in disruption. Alan’s latest role at UPS was VP of Corporate Strategy, where he helped revitalize UPS innovation and venture capital programs for the digital economy. He moved into this role after serving as VP of Marketing for UPS Global Logistics & Distribution. Alan began his UPS career in 1982 working as a seasonal employee for four years, performing a variety of jobs, including package handler and car washer. Alan rejoined UPS after graduate school in 1992 and held numerous leadership roles in industrial engineering, customer technology, and new product development. Alan holds a Ph.D. in Management from Kennesaw State University, an M.B.A. from Indiana University, and a B.A. in business and psychology from Lewis & Clark College.

Chad W. Autry is the Dove Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Autry holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with focus in Supply Chain Management from the University of Oklahoma, an M.B.A. with focus on International Business from Oklahoma City University, and a B.B.A in Marketing from the University of Oklahoma.

Autry’s business background includes multiple experiences in retail and restaurant operations management and in information technology consulting. During his academic career, he has worked with and for numerous professional and civic organizations related to supply chain process improvement, including American Airlines, IBM, Goodwill Industries, and multiple agencies within the US Department of Defense. He has assumed active leadership roles at local and national levels for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, the Warehousing Education and Research Council, the Production and Operations Management Society, the Institute for Supply Management, the National Association of Purchasing Managers, and the Supply Chain Management and Industrial Distribution Symposium.

Autry’s current research focuses primarily on supply chain network design and strategy, with specific attention placed on issues related to relationship integration and technological connectivity across multiple firms simultaneously. He is author of over 70 peer reviewed studies in academic outlets and is a past Editor in Chief of the Journal of Supply Chain Management. He has made numerous media appearances related to emerging supply chain issues and has been characterized as a “supply chain futurist” in professional publications and conferences. He is a frequent speaker on many supply chain related topics, and is currently the Department Head of the UT program.

Mark Baker is an international enterprise excellence and quality expert. For more than 35 years, he has guided corporations in 30 countries around the world in making transformative changes to their operations for rapid, yet lasting impact. Baker has successfully helped companies in many industries, including light and heavy manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, medical devices, banking and insurance. Baker began his career as a mechanical engineer at Honda Motor Company, eventually leading the enterprise excellence rollout for Saint-Gobain, then heading the Shingo Institute for Enterprise Excellence, as well as being involved with McKinsey & Company.

John Bell is an Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining the UT faculty in August 2010, Bell was a career maintenance and logistics officer in the United States Air Force. He earned his Ph.D. in management from Auburn University and taught on the faculties at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and Georgia College & State University prior to coming to UT. He also holds an M.S. in Logistics Management from AFIT and a B.S. in history from the United States Air Force Academy. His teaching and research interests are in logistics and supply chain management, vehicle routing, facility location selection, hazardous material transportation, and supply chain strategy and risk. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Business Logistics, Transportation Journal, OMEGA, Computer & Operations Research, and Advanced Engineering Informatics. He is a frequent presenter at national and international meetings of the DSI, POMS, INFORMS and other professional societies.

During his academic and military careers, Bell has won a number of awards for his management, teaching, and research efforts. In 1993 he was selected as the General Leo Marquez Award winner as the outstanding maintenance manager in the United States Air Forces Europe. Later, in 1998, he received the Louis Polk Award from the National Defense Industrial Association for his research on countering parts obsolescence in aircraft manufacturing supply chains. In addition, he was a Distinguished Graduate of the Master of Science Logistics Management program at AFIT and was selected for the Edwin Aldrin Award as the top leader in his class in 1998. Following two years of conducting research for the Headquarters United States Air Force (Pentagon), he was competitively selected for a US Air Force scholarship to pursue his doctorate education at Auburn University. Following his graduation from Auburn in 2003, he spent three years on the faculty at AFIT, where he became the Division Chief for the Logistics Management program and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In addition to several teaching awards, Bell’s research work has also garnered awards, including the Best Article published in the Air Force Journal of Logistics in 2000, and the Alpha Iota Delta Best Paper Award at the 2010 Western Decision Sciences Institute Conference. Bell has received competitive research grants in excess of $100K from the United States Air Force to conduct research on logistics facility location selection, and he has held memberships and positions in the following societies: CSCMP, DSI, POMS, INFORMS, AST&L, and SOLE.

Bogdan C. Bichescu is an Associate Professor of Management Science in the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee. He teaches operations and decision analysis classes in the MSBA program, the full-time MBA program, the PhD program, and in the undergraduate business program. His teaching interests include lean operations, decision modeling and analysis, business simulation, and project management.

Bichescu’s research interests are concentrated in the areas of supply chain modeling and healthcare operations. More specifically, his work examines the role of channel power and subcontracting on supply chain performance, while his recent studies investigate the interplay between information technology and hospital performance. Bichescu’s research has appeared in journals including Production and Operations Management, Decision Sciences, European Journal of Operational Research, and Omega.

Dr. Yemisi Bolumole is the Ryder Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee. Prior to this, she was an Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University and the Director of the Transportation and Logistics Program in the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Bolumole worked in the oil/gas and 3PL sectors in the areas of Operations Management and Business Development. She earned her Ph.D. in Logistics & SCM from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom in 2001.

Dr. Bolumole’s areas of research emphasis include third party logistics and transportation outsourcing; transportation policy, especially business-to-government interactions and SCM’s broad implications for multiple stakeholders, and for society, at large; and talent development at the human resource management interface with supply chain management (SCM). Her research program to date has generated over 40 publications, including book chapters, reports, and refereed journal articles in the Journal of Business Logistics, the International Journal of Physical Distribution &; Logistics Management, the International Journal of Logistics Management, International Journal of Production Research, Supply Chain Management Review, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, and the Transportation Journal.

By highlighting issues that enhance understanding of SCM policy and practice interfaces, Dr. Bolumole’s research fills a critical gap of understanding about the equilibrium effects between supply chain investments, activity, and their policy affects. Dr. Bolumole’s excellence in research has been recognized with several awards, including the Bernard J. LaLonde Prize for Best Paper Published in the Journal of Business Logistics. Her research in the policy area has garnered significant attention, receiving recent visibility during the COVID-19 pandemic through an invited multi-part series of articles published at the Supply Chain Management Review Journal.

A certified SAP solutions architect and consultant, she has led curricular enhancement efforts in the SCM department at 2 major universities. Her teaching remains at the forefront of pedagogical innovation, with cutting edge applications earning her the AT&;T Instructional Technology Award for Best Hybrid/Flipped class at Michigan State University, and the University of North Florida’s Outstanding Teaching Award.

Melissa R. Bowers, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and the Beaman Professor of Business in the Haslam College of Business at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she is the Director of the Master’s Program in Business Analytics. Her teaching and research interests include Production Planning and Scheduling, Supply Chain Optimization, Lean Manufacturing, Lean MRO, Theory of Constraints, and Discrete Optimization Models. Bowers has worked with organizations such as Milliken, ALCOA, Phillips Petroleum, Lockheed, Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Hanesbrands Inc., the United States Air Force, Boeing, the University of Tennessee Medical Center, and Cherry Point Naval Air Base. She has published in MIT Sloan Management Review, Decision Sciences, European Journal of Operational Research, Interfaces, Computers and OR, Production and Inventory Management Journal, and several other academic and professional journals. Bowers was the recipient of the 2016 Allen H. Keally Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business, the 2012 and 2015 Richard Sanders Outstanding Leadership in Executive Education Award, the 2014 MSBA Outstanding Service to Students Award, and the 2011 Outstanding MBA First Year Faculty Award, along with several other teaching awards. She is a co-author of the book, “Lean Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul: Changing the Way You Do Business.”

Randy V. Bradley is an Associate Professor of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management in the Haslam College of Business at The University of Tennessee. He holds a Ph.D. in Management of Information Technology (IT) and Innovation, an M.S. in Management Information Systems, and a B.S. in Computer Engineering, all from Auburn University. As a supply chain and IT strategist and researcher, Bradley’s expertise includes digital business transformation, supply chain digitalization, and the strategic application of business analytics and IT in the supply chain.

Bradley is a preeminent global thought leader and highly sought-after speaker for professional and corporate conferences and events. As a supply chain and an IT strategist, he offers keen insights and practical guidance on leveraging emerging tech, digital business transformation, supply chain digitalization, and the strategic application of analytics. Bradley’s insights have been chronicled in Bloomberg Law, Thrive Global, Business Wire, MarketWatch, SupplyChain247, Supply Chain Dive, DC Velocity, MHI Solutions, Healthcare Purchasing News, and HealthPRO News, among others. He has 20+ years of industry experience and his business background includes IT consulting, IT, supply chain, analytics strategy design, digital supply chain roadmap development, supply chain transformation initiatives, IT outsourcing transitions, and large-scale systems evaluation, selection, and integration projects. He has consulted for and advised federal, state, and multinational organizations and companies both domestically and abroad.

As a prolific researcher, his research and insights are published in more than 100 articles, book chapters, columns, and proceedings of national and international practitioner and academic meetings and conferences. His research has appeared or is forthcoming in the Production and Operations Management Journal, Journal of Business Logistics, Decision Sciences Journal, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly Executive, Information Systems Journal, Journal of Information Technology, Translational Andrology and Urology, and Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics, among others.

Bradley has been recognized for his excellence in teaching, his leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion in academia, and his impact in industry, as evidenced by numerous awards and recognitions, including the 2019 Richard Sanders Faculty Leadership Award (Graduate and Executive Education), 2017 National Association of Black Accountants National Achievement in Education Award, designation as a Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Fellow, and past nominee for the Tennessee HIMSS Emerging Healthcare IT Leader of the Year Award. As a member of HIMSS, the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), Association for Information Systems (AIS), Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), and the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), and several advisory boards, councils, and board of directors, Bradley serves as an advocate for health IT and its interplay between other areas of healthcare, such as supply chain, financial/revenue cycle management, and analytics.

Joe Buckley is a lecturer in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, teaching Junior and Senior-level supply chain courses.

Buckley comes to the University after a twenty-eight year career in industry. He has held positions such as Vice President Procurement Services, Vice President Finance, and most recently served as Director, Materials Management and Transportation for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Joe’s supply chain leadership and expertise includes: inventory management, logistics, and network design. In addition, Joe is a licensed CPA and has additional expertise in accounting and finance functions.

Joe has been married for 25+ years to his wife, Kelly. They have 3 daughters: Lauren, Rebecca and Rachael.

Michael H. Burnette is a Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) fellow at the University of Tennessee. Burnette comes to the University of Tennessee after a 33-year career as a Supply Chain executive at Procter and Gamble. Most recently, Mike was the P&G Global Supply Chain leader for Skin Care ($2+ billion dollar Olay brand) and P&G Global Supply Chain Leader for Hair Care ($4 billion dollar Pantene and Herbal Essence brands). Mike’s supply chain leadership and expertise include: supply strategy/design, manufacturing, logistics, innovation, PLCM, acquisitions, and human resources.

Currently, Burnette teaches supply chain courses at the University of Tennessee, as well as managing multiple GSCI projects. Additionally, Mike is a supply chain consultant and speaker. He has co-written multiple GSCI supply chain white papers, including “Talent – Our Most Important Resource” and “Platform Life Cycle Management Best Practices.” Mike is also the co-author of the book, “Supply Chain Game Changers,” published 11/15.

Mike has been married for 30+ years to his wife, Sherri. They have 3 sons: Matt (P&G logistics), Tom (P&G engineering), and Scott (P&G manufacturing).

Cole Burns is the Director of SCM Career Management in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. He supports supply chain majors in undergrad and graduate programs through providing resources and opportunities for students to engage with that allow them to develop as professionals, network, and expand their career opportunities. Cole also supports corporate partners through providing individualized consultation and support for them as they develop their brand and recruit at the university. He is passionate about continuous learning and increasing ease of access to education for underrepresented students. Prior to joining the Global Supply Chain Institute, Cole worked in a range of student support roles including career coaching, academic advising, academic coaching, financial aid, and housing. Through his experience in education and his passion for helping students, he works to develop robust programming in collaboration with corporate partners that will lead to educational and career success for every student.

Brian Gabriel Canever joined the Global Supply Chain Institute in 2022. His previous marketing and communications experience spans higher education, public diplomacy, sports, and nonprofits. Most recently, Canever served as a public relations specialist and brand writer for UT Communications and Marketing. Prior to that role, he spent four years with the the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society, where he served as communications lead for the U.S. Department of State’s Global Sports Mentoring Program. Canever is a lecturer in the College of Communication and Information.

Hannah Carter is the Program Manager for the Master of Science in Supply Chain Management Online program, where she works in support of overall program operations. She previously worked in admissions for Haslam’s on-campus Graduate Business Programs, and before coming to UT spent several years in a variety of roles at Penguin Random House, the world’s largest English-language trade book publisher.

Christopher W. Craighead is the FedEx Chair of Supply Chain Management at the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee. Professor Craighead’s primary research interest is strategic supply chain management with a focus on supply chain disruptions, buyer-supplier exchanges and the supply chain-entrepreneurship interface. Professor Craighead’s articles have been published in Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Decision Sciences, Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Transportation Science, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management and other journals. Dr. Craighead has received several research fellowships, competitive research grants, and research awards.

Professor Craighead has extensive teaching experience in terms of various audiences and course content. He teaches Strategic Sourcing in the undergraduate program and Theoretical and Research Foundations in the PhD program. Professor Craighead has served as dissertation chair for seven students in three universities. He has received awards for teaching excellence at four universities.

Professor Craighead serves as the Logistics Department Editor at Decision Sciences, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Supply Chain Management and a Senior Editor at Journal of Business Logistics. He has received multiple awards for reviewing and editing excellence, including Best Associate Editor Awards from Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, and Decision Sciences.

Professor Craighead effectively bridges academia and industry. For example, his research has fueled over 350 executive education programs, which have, in turn, enriched his teaching. At Penn State, he worked as the Director of Research of the Center for Supply Chain Research, where he served as the principal liaison between faculty and industry partners. By bridging academia and industry, Professor Craighead’s career has culminated in both theoretical and pragmatic impacts. He has been a strong advocate for such a career strategy, co-authoring papers geared toward helping others in the field realize this dual impact.

Russell Crook is the First Horizon Professor of Management in the Haslam College of Business at UT. Crook holds a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from Florida State University. He teaches strategic planning and implementation, and he has published over 30 articles on strategy and entrepreneurship topics. He also works with organizations on their efforts to build their future visions and then work to achieve them. Before earning his Ph.D., Crook worked for American Airlines, US Airways, and IBM in a variety of capacities, including strategic planning and procurement.

Thomas Deakins is a former business executive with decades of supply chain technology and consulting experience. A recognized leader in building strategic, world-class supply chain partner ecosystems, he is best known for his experience in TMS and real-time supply chain visibility applications, digital supply chain strategies, and more recently for his work with ESG Scope 3 Transportation Fleet Sustainability. Over his 30-plus year career, Deakins has worked for project44, Oracle, G-Log, Trimble, MavenWire, MercuryGate, CHEP, SLI Consulting Inc., and JB Hunt. From 1992-94, while completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Deakins worked for UPS as a loader/unloader and was a co-op student with Skyline Transportation. In 2022, Deakins earned his executive MBA in Global Supply Chain from UT Knoxville.

Dave Demers is a supply chain pioneer in the design and implementation of E2E agile resiliency in supply chain designs. His Performance Diamond financial analytics benchmarking platform, E2E PICO workflow design tools, innovation methodologies, and team building knowledge-transfer skills have been deployed across the globe by industry leaders spanning retail, petrochemical, technology, telecommunications, industrial machinery, life sciences, medical devices, food processing, and supply chain services as well as military branches. Dave has gained diverse cultural and geographic knowledge on global supply chain design and innovation strategy deployment across the Americas, Middle East, Southeast Asia, China and European countries. His 46 years in the field of supply chain innovation offer a critical experiential perspective that can inspire enterprise teams to tackle the complexity that comes with growing and protecting value creation advantage in and out of periods of supply chain disruption.

Dave serves as a Fellow at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Global Supply Chain Institute. He also serves as the CEO of Avicon, Inc., a supply chain applied learning and team development practice. He is a co-author of a groundbreaking research effort and white paper titled Advancing E2E Agile Resiliency in Supply Chains – A proactive approach to creating value during global supply chain disruptions. The research and publication work were sponsored by UT’s Global Supply Chain Institute and Avicon, Inc. (January 2021).

Dave is also Co-Founder of Healthy Hearts for Life, a non-profit focused on cardiovascular disease patients and their successful adoption of new behavioral modification and long-term adherence to critical lifestyle changes. He and his wife Karen also lead in the Marriage Ministry for couples in the New England area. They live in New Hampshire.

Dave holds an MBA in Business Logistics from Pennsylvania State University and a BS in Business Logistics from Northeastern University.

J. Paul Dittmann is the assistant department head for supply chain. He teaches supply chain courses in the business school and lectures in the executive education programs.

Dittmann comes to the University of Tennessee after a thirty-two year career in industry. He has held positions, such as Vice President, Logistics for North America, Vice President Global Logistics Systems, and most recently served as Vice President, Supply Chain Strategy, Projects, and Systems for the Whirlpool Corporation.

Dittmann also manages many of the special projects done for companies, including the supply chain audits. In managing the audits and other projects, he has consulted or done executive education for numerous firms, such as Walgreens, Pfizer, Walmart, UPS, Boise, Tyco, Honeywell, Genuine Parts, Cintas, Cummins, Cooper Tire, United Smokeless Tobacco, Radio Systems Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Estee Lauder, The United States Army, The Marine Corps, Michelin, Brunswick, Nissan, Lockheed Martin, Race Trac Petroleum, GAF Corporation, OfficeMax, Sony, Keller Group, GlaxoSmithKline, Cooper Tire, Lowes, Fiskars, and the United States Air Force.

He has also taught numerous public seminars in the areas of lean manufacturing, global business, and supply chain excellence, and has spoken at many conferences on these and other topics. He has been a certified instructor for the Project Management Institute.

Dittmann co-authored a recent Harvard Business Review article, “Are You the Weakest Link in Your Company’s Supply Chain?” and also co-authored the book, “The New Supply Chain Agenda,” published by Harvard Business Publishing. He authored “Supply Chain Transformation,” published by McGraw Hill in August 2012, in addition to “Supply Chain Game Changers,” published by Pearson in 2015.

He is on the Board of Directors of Kenco Group, a member of the University of Missouri Industrial Engineering Hall of Fame; was selected as a Rainmaker by DC Velocity Magazine; and was designated one of the Top Ten Supply Chain Thought Leaders in 2013.

Danielle Dodson serves as the office manager for the department Supply Chain Management in the Haslam College of Business. She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education Interdisciplinary Studies from Lincoln Memorial University. She started her career working with Automotive Industry Franchisees. During her time there she helped a team grow their small business to be the number one automotive repair shop in the city. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family and friends. Danielle also likes to travel and experience new adventures.

Pam Donovan is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining the UT faculty in October 2018, Pam was a career transportation and logistics officer in the United States Air Force. She earned her Ph.D. in logistics and transportation from the University of Maryland and taught on the faculties at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and the University of North Texas. Pam’s teaching interests include supply chain analytics and modeling, inventory management, and distribution.

Scott DuHadway, Ph.D, studies the role of human behavior in supply chain relationships, and so is interested in behavioral operations, risk, and buyer-supplier relationships. His research challenges the assumption that actors in the supply chain are playing by the rules of engagement and explores what drives companies to become bad actors in business relationships and participate in deceptive practices such as supply chain fraud, counterfeit manufacturing, deception, and unethical risk taking.

Scott holds a Ph.D. degree in Operations and Sourcing from Michigan State University and has published his work in various supply chain journals, including the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Business Logistics, Decision Sciences, and others.

Stephanie Eckerd is an associate professor of supply chain management in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Eckerd researches behavioral operations and supply chain management. Her articles have appeared in various journals, including the Journal of Operations Management and the Journal of Supply Chain Management. She teaches strategic sourcing in multiple programs at UT. She earned her Ph.D. in Operations Management in 2011 from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

Darrell Edwards currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Supply Chain Management Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining UT Knoxville faculty, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at La-Z-Boy Incorporated, the nation’s largest producer of reclining chairs and one of the nation’s largest providers of home furnishings. Edwards has over three decades of deep global operations and supply chain experience, delivering significant value within consumer product industries. His interests are focused in business coaching, team building, process innovation, and strategy.

While at La-Z-Boy, Edwards was a named Executive Officer (NEO) that led the global operations and supply chain for La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s Branded Business totaling in excess of 9,000 employees. Additionally, he currently serves on the Board of Directors for Dovetail Brands in Grabill, IN. Edwards has been recognized as an award-winning leader, and led numerous business units to achieve national and global recognition for operational excellence. He is a frequent guest speaker at various national forums, and authored articles in several business trade publications.

Edwards holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a master’s degree in global management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.

Miranda Epperson serves as office manager for the Supply Chain Management department. Prior to joining the UTK family, Miranda worked in office management and human resources in the Knoxville, TN area for over 10 years. A Knoxville native, she enjoys spending time with friends and family and traveling to the beach.

Larry Fauver joined the UT finance faculty in 2007 from the University of Miami, where he taught international finance and international financial management to undergraduate and graduate students. He received his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Florida in 2000 and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Florida in 1997. His research focuses on firm performance, corporate governance, corporate culture, and corruption, both in a domestic and international environment. Dr. Fauver has published in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Corporate Finance, and other finance journals. His research has been presented at various national and international finance forums including the American Social Science Association, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Western Finance Association, the Darden International Finance Conference and the European Finance Association. His work has been presented at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Stock Exchange, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, been featured in Forbes, cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as being quoted in Fortune on several occasions. He teaches the international finance courses in UT’s undergraduate and graduate curriculum, along with a course in the Ph.D. program.

Kenneth Gilbert, a Professor and Program Chairman, holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Berea College, an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in Management Science from the University of Tennessee.

Gilbert has published articles in numerous journals, including Management Science, Decision Sciences, IIE Transactions, and the Journal for the Society of Computing Machinery. In his current research he is developing stochastic models (in particular, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Models) to describe the dynamics of supply chains. Gilbert regularly teaches a doctoral seminar in supply chain dynamics and also teaches at the Haslam College of Business Executive MBA program, the MBA/IE dual degree program in Manufacturing Management, and is coordinator of the undergraduate curriculum in Lean Production. He also teaches in the Supply Chain Specialist certification course and has served as a consultant to numerous companies.

Professor Thomas J. Goldsby is the Dee and Jimmy Haslam Chair in Logistics at the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Evansville, M.B.A. from the University of Kentucky, and Ph.D. in Marketing and Logistics from Michigan State University.

Dr. Goldsby is immediate-past Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Business Logistics and former Co-Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Journal. He serves as Co-Faculty Director for the Global Supply Chain Institute at the Haslam College. His research interests include logistics strategy, supply chain integration, and the theory and practice of lean and agile supply chain strategies. He has published more than 90 articles in academic and professional journals and serves as a frequent speaker at academic conferences, executive education seminars, and professional meetings. Professor Goldsby is co-/author of five books: Logistics Management: Enhancing Competitiveness and Customer Value (MyEducator, 2015), The Definitive Guide to Transportation (Financial Times, 2014), Global Macrotrends and Their Impact on Supply Chain Management (Financial Times, 2013), Lean Six Sigma Logistics: Strategic Development to Operational Success (J. Ross Publishing, 2005), and The Design and Management of Sustainable Supply Chains (Cambridge University Press, under development). Dr. Goldsby is a recipient of multiple best paper awards and he has received recognition for excellence in teaching at the University of Tennessee, The Ohio State University, University of Kentucky, and Iowa State University. In 2019, he was recognized as a “Rainmaker” by DC Velocity magazine and received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from Supply Chain Leaders in Action (SCLA). Dr. Goldsby delivered a course on Business Operations for The Great Courses’ Critical Business Skills series in 2015, which continues to rate as a bestselling Nonfiction/Business title at audible.com, and was rated among the Top 50 bestsellers (#27) among all audiobooks during Summer 2020 by Newsweek.

Dr. Goldsby has supervised more than 100 Lean/Six Sigma supply chain projects with industry partners, chaired eight Ph.D. dissertations, and served as an investigator on multiple federally funded research projects, exceeding $3.5 million in grant proceeds. In his spare time, Dr. Goldsby competes as one of the top masters (over-40) runners in America for distances between the mile and the marathon.

Rebekah Griffin serves as the Global Supply Chain Institute’s office Manager. Prior to joining the GSCI team in 2021, Rebekah worked in management and sales for massage therapy clinics in the Knoxville area for over 7 years. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and making memories with family and friends.

Michael Grojean joins the faculty of the Haslam College of Business as an Adjunct in Strategic Leadership for Executive Education and the Executive MBA programs, while also serving as Director of the Executive MBA in Strategic Leadership. In addition, he continues to engage organizational clients through Grojean Kirst Associates, LLC., a consultancy company specializing in the focus areas of Leadership, Strategy and Talent.

He has previously served on the faculty at Rice University as Professor in the Practice of Management and Executive Director, leading Executive Education as well as delivering programs in both ExecEd and the Professional/Executive MBAs. Prior to joining Rice, Grojean was a member of the faculty at Aston Business School in the United Kingdom, where he served as Associate Professor of Management, Head of Executive Education, and Associate Dean for Corporate Activities and Partnerships.

Additionally, Grojean’s broad experience base includes 23 years of military service (enlisted and commissioned) culminating as a member of the Leadership Faculty at West Point, the Chief of Human Resources for a 28,000 member organization, and finally, as the Head of Leadership Policy for the U.S Army. As the Leadership Policy Officer, he was responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing leadership and leader development policy and doctrine for the 1.4 million person active and reserve force in the U.S. Army. In this role, he also authored the Army’s mentorship doctrine, critically changing the organizational paradigm of developmental relationships.

Grojean has worked with national and international organizations as they have undergone significant change. With the accession into the European Union creating challenges for the medical community, he was invited by the Minister of Health of Malta to facilitate transformation and change leadership for Hospital CEOs and National Health Directors. Grojean has also advised on strategy development designed to enhance the drug development pipeline for a leading international pharmaceutical company. He served on the Archimedes team responsible for accrediting the Estonian National Defense College, as well as consulting for organizations such as NATO, the UK Ministry of Defense, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Sandia National Laboratories, British Petroleum, Land Rover/Jaguar, Jacobs Engineering, National Oilwell Varco, Eli Lilly, General Electric, Chicago Bridge & Iron, Baker Hughes International, LyondellBasell, Saudi Aramco and the City of Houston.

Grojean’s interests and expertise lie in the intersection between organizational change, strategy and leadership. His research has been published in British Journal of Management, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Human Performance, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics and Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences, as well as numerous confidential internal organizational reports and publications. In addition to the publications noted above, Grojean has made media appearances in the Guardian, the Scotsman, The Pat Kenny Show, RTE Radio, the Birmingham Post, Newstalk Ireland, and BBC Radio. He holds memberships in the American Psychological Society, Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology, British Academy of Management, Society of Human Resource Management, International Leadership Association, and Center for Advancement of Research Methods Analysis.

Kelly Hewett is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. Prior to joining UT, she worked for five years at Bank of America, where she was a senior vice president in the firm’s corporate marketing group. In that position, she led corporate insights work, developed marketing strategies and served as a liaison among marketing, innovation, and new product development groups. Previously, she had a 10-year academic career, specializing in marketing strategy. Her research has been published in top academic journals in both Marketing and International Business fields. She has received awards and recognitions for her research and teaching. She currently teaches a course in the full-time MBA program on marketing insights, and also teaches in the Executive and Professional MBA programs on topics including strategic marketing planning and marketing insights.

Jon Holztrager is Director of Supply Chain Partnerships and an adjunct faculty member with the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee.

He is an accomplished supply chain professional with expertise in total delivered cost reduction, operating asset strategy, supply chain transformation, and best-in-class supply chain results. Jon held senior roles with multi-site, executive responsibility for various regional, North American, and global supply chain operating groups. He has experience in pulp & paper, consumer disposables, consumer electronics, and electric utility sectors. The majority of his 35 year career was spent with Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Sony, and the Tennessee Valley Authority – the Nation’s largest public power provider.

Jon now teaches supply chain operations with an emphasis on practical aspects of leading manufacturing, purchasing, distribution, and transportation teams. He also works closely with UT Supply Chain Forum members and other companies who are engaged in recruiting, organization development, and operations improvement. Additionally, he serves as a Customer Emeritus Board member for Dallas-based ISNetworld.

Seongkyoon Jeong is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management. He has earned his Ph.D. degree from Arizona State University, and his research focuses on contemporary issues in supply chain management such as digital supply chain, cybersecurity, and sustainable operations.

James Keebler served as a visiting professor in the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida teaching undergraduate, graduate and executive courses. Previously, he was the Charles S. Conklin Chair and Eminent Scholar and Professor of Supply Chain Management at Clayton State University.

Keebler focuses on strategic planning and performance measurement in logistics and supply chain management. He has published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Transportation Management, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Benchmarking: An International Journal, Leadership and Organizational Management and International Journal of Logistics Economics, as well as a variety of practitioner journals. Google Scholar reports he has been cited in more than 7,600 peer-reviewed publications. He is the co-author of the books Keeping Score: Measuring the Business Value of Logistics in the Supply Chain (1999, Council of Logistics Management) and Supply Chain Management (2000, J.T. Mentzer, Editor, Sage Publications).

Prior to entering academia, Keebler had more than 25 years of practical experience in manufacturing, marketing and logistics management across the food, pharmaceuticals, health care, electronics and consumer products industries, holding senior management positions with the Pillsbury Company, Bergen Brunswig Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation. He worked for an international consulting firm, owned and operated two businesses and served for five years as president of a Colgate-Palmolive subsidiary and as vice president of an operating division. Keebler also served six years in the U.S. Army Transportation Corp in the U.S., Europe and Vietnam. He has been full-time faculty at St. Cloud State University, University of South Florida, Clayton State University and University of Central Florida. He earned a master’s in finance and in management. He earned his Ph.D. in marketing and logistics from UT in 2000.

Cayce Keith serves as the Global Supply Chain Institute’s Marketing Program Manager. Prior to joining GSCI, Cayce was the Associate Director of Digital Communication for the UT Foundation in Advancement Communications. With over eight years of experience in digital marketing and creative services, Cayce has experience in the restaurant industry with a focus on marketing production and digital program innovation as well as higher ed.

Josh King joined UT in 2021 as the Global Supply Chain Institute’s Operations Director, with over 10 years of experience in higher education and industry in the areas of enrollment management, marketing, and supply chain management. Prior to joining UT, King served as Associate Dean of Admission at the University of the South and as Customer Supply Chain Manager at S.C. Johnson.

Justin Kistler is an assistant professor of supply chain management in the Haslam College of Business, where he teaches manufacturing and service operations. Prior to joining the faculty, Justin earned his Ph.D. in management science at the University of South Carolina. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Justin’s business background includes roles in project development and process engineering for HCA Healthcare, along with project management experience at a General Electric gas turbine laboratory. Justin’s research focuses on process redesign and the interface between regulatory policy and service operations, particularly in the healthcare industry.

Dr. Michael Ku is Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) within the Medicinal Sciences organization of Pfizer’s Worldwide Research, Development and Medical. Michael has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical experience and currently provides strategic leadership for clinical supply chain functions in support of Pfizer’s clinical trials in over 70 countries. His intellectual curiosity and focus on technology and innovation drive his passion to lead the global clinical supply chain to deliver breakthroughs to patients, especially with the COVID-19 vaccine program.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Michael was the Global Head and Vice President of Clinical Pharmacy Research Services (CPRS) at Genzyme Corporation. He also held several roles of increasing responsibility at Astra Pharmaceuticals (currently AstraZeneca) and Novopharm Limited (currently Teva Canada Limited) in the areas of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance.

Having a deep appreciation for talent development and motivated by helping Pfizer colleagues thrive, Michael shares his leadership skills with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion by serving as the Executive Leader of the Global Asian Alliance Enterprise Colleague Resource Group (GAA ECRG).

Inspired by helping to unleash the potential for pharmacists globally at Pfizer, Michael also serves as an Executive Sponsor for the Pfizer Pharmacy Association (PPA) and founded the Pfizer/MCPHS Biopharmaceutical Fellowship Program as its Program Director and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at MCPHS University.

Michael currently serves as an Advisor to the Board of Directors of Excir Corporation (www.excir.com) and the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (www.ispe.org). He chairs the Clinical Supply Leadership Forum (CSLF) and is a founding member of the Innovation Outreach Program (IOP). In 2018, he received the prestigious Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award.

Michael’s educational background includes a Doctor of Pharmacy and Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from MCPHS University as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Anna Maria College. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Toxicology from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the General Management Program from Harvard Business School.

Paolo Letizia is an Assistant Professor of Business Analytics at the Department of Business Analytics and Statistics, Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee. His research interests lie in the areas of Sustainable Operations, Closed Loop Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Channel Design, and Role of Information in a Supply Chain.

Paolo’s work has been published in Production and Operations Management and IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology. He has chaired the track of Environmental Operations and organized several sessions on Sustainable Operations at conferences including INFORMS and POMS. Paolo is also on the editorial review boards of leading operations management journals.

Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, Paolo taught Operations and Supply Chain Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Paolo holds an M.Sc. in Supply Chain Management from Bordeaux Business School and a Ph.D. with dual degree in Operations Research and Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business. Before starting his academic career, he was employed by the consulting firm Accenture, and worked on projects in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, and Customer Relationship Management.

Mary is a board advisor, lecturer, writer, and international speaker. She has built an extensive supply chain career, most recently, as the Vice President of Logistics and Network Planning at Domino’s. Prior companies include Campbell’s Soup, General Mills, and Pepsi. Three outcomes have characterized her work: digital supply chain agility, customer-focused design, and stronger leaders and teams.

Mary has co-authored two white papers, “Future Trends Shaping Transportation” (2020) and “Young Women’s Perspectives on Supply Chain Diversity and Inclusion” (2019). She serves on the editorial board for Supply Chain Management Quarterly. She was named by the Bio Supply Management Alliance (BSMA) to “Who’s Who Women in Life Sciences.”

Her responsibilities have spanned global end to end supply chain and her areas of interest include advancing digital supply chain agility and accelerating humanitarian supply chain relief.

She earned her undergraduate degree in Quantitative Business Analysis from Cleveland State University and MBA in Operations and Logistics from Ohio State University.

Prior to joining the Haslam College of Business in the fall 2022, Dr. Maier served as Dean for nine years at two, state maritime academies (Maine Maritime and Cal Maritime). As the founding Dean for the School of Maritime Transportation, Logistics, & Management at California State University – Maritime Academy, he oversaw programs in marine transportation, logistics, and academic oversight for Naval Science (Strategic Sealift Midshipmen Program). He and his colleague led Cal Maritime’s Long-Range Planning Group to develop an academic schedule, helping students remain on-track to graduate and safety requirements during the pandemic. Dr. Maier has been featured on CNN, CNN-I, ABC-San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, and Popular Mechanics as the subject matter expert on the M/S Ever Given and the volatility in the global supply chain. He was a keynote speaker for events with the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the Marine Insurance Association of Seattle (MIAS), Board of Marine Underwriters of San Francisco, the Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals Association, and the International Association of Maritime Port Executives (IAMPE).

As Dean at Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), Dr. Maier was directly responsible for the creation of the asynchronous, fully online graduate program, as well as receiving NEASC accreditation for the program. His team was able to design a Logistics Lab providing students more hands-on learning while eventually being integrated throughout the program’s curriculum. He served on the Maine International Trade Center Board of Advisors. At Cal Maritime, he served on the Solano County (CA) Economic Development Board of Directors and led the efforts to implement Dynamic Positioning (DP) and earn Nautical Institute international accreditation for the course, the first state maritime academy to earn the global recognition. He spearheaded innovative experiential learning opportunities including “Inventory Watch”, in which his students (cadets) would have true, hands-on experience. He continues to serve on the IAMPE’s Board of Advisors and serves on the Advisory Board for the Containerization & Intermodal Institute.

Prior to joining MMA, Dr. Maier began his full-time academic career in 2004 at the University of St. Francis in Illinois, where he was the 2009 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2009 Alumni Board Presidential Award, and received tenure. While at USF, he also was a member of the Will County Health Department’s Emergency Response Team where he designed and managed the distribution of pharmaceutical supplies during the H1N1 incident. He also served on the Will County Center for Economic Development Logistics Advisory Board helping to create Joliet, IL as the “inland empire” of the Midwest. His professional career included roles in the logistics and supply chain management teams at FedEx, Office Depot, Penske Logistics, Monsanto, and Merisant (division of Monsanto). He was instrumental in the strategic design and leadership of the International Logistics Operation for North and Central America. He managed the design and development of the Total Productive Manufacturing quality culture at Merisant focusing on the principles of 5S and Lean.

Dr. Maier and his wife Laura (and best friend) are the proud parents of two adult children, Joe and Lillie. Always the adventurous type, he and his family have had the amazing opportunity to live and work in the Midwest, both Coasts, in urban and rural areas. He thoroughly enjoys being outdoors, fishing, hunting, and craft-beer.

He earned a Ph.D. in Organization Development and a MS in Organizational Behavior from Benedictine University (Lisle, IL), and a BA in Political Science from the University of St. Francis (Joliet, IL).

Mark A. Moon is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining the UT faculty in 1993, Moon earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds MBA and BA degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Moon’s professional experience includes positions in sales and marketing with IBM and Xerox. He teaches at the undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA levels, and teaches Demand Planning, Forecasting, and Marketing Strategy in numerous Executive Programs offered at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Executive Education. Moon’s primary research interests are in buyer/seller relationships, demand management, and sales forecasting. He has published in the International Journal of Forecasting, Supply Chain Management Review, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Business Forecasting, Journal of Marketing Education, Marketing Education Review, Business Horizons, Industrial Marketing Management, and several national conference proceedings. Moon is also the author, along with John T. (Tom) Mentzer of Sales Forecasting Management: A Demand Management Approach, available from Sage Publications. He has consulted with numerous companies including Eastman Chemical, Hershey Foods, Lucent Technologies, DuPont, Union Pacific Railroad, Motorola, Sony, and Sara Lee.

Timothy P. Munyon (Ph.D., Florida State University) is a Professor of Management, the Janet and Jeff Davis Faculty Research Fellow at the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Global Supply Chain Institute Fellow. His current research interests include the causes and effects of social influence at work, human resource management practices, and entrepreneur and family firm behavior. Munyon’s research has been published in journals such as Applied Psychology, Business Horizons, Family Business Review, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Organization Dynamics, Organization Studies, Personnel Psychology, and Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management. He is a former Associate Editor of the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and currently serves on the editorial boards of Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Personnel Psychology. He is a former editorial board member of Business Horizons, Group & Organization Management, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, and Production.

Munyon is active in the field of management, and his research has been presented at the Academy of Management, American College Personnel Association, Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, Harvard Graduate School Student Research Conference, International Conference on Occupational Stress and Health, Mid-Atlantic Strategic Colloquium, Mid-South Management Research Consortium, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Southern Management Association, Strategic Management Society, Tennessee Economics Association, Western Academy of Management, and Western Social Science Association. He is a member of the Board of Governors for the Southern Management Association.

Regarding teaching, Munyon serves as a core faculty member in the Aerospace & Defense MBA program, Master of Science in Management and Human Resources program, and the Professional MBA program at the Haslam College. He was awarded the “Outstanding HRM Faculty Award” for teaching contributions in 2016, and has twice been a finalist for competitive campus teaching awards. He also teaches undergraduate and doctoral courses in organizational behavior and human resource management, and has supported 16 doctoral dissertations as a committee member or chair. Recent consulting and training clients include Ariba/SAP, Elbit Systems of America, InJoyGlobal, Knox County Health Department, NASA, and Ortho Medical Devices. Munyon also served as a subject matter expert on workforce management issues for Robins Air Force Base, and supports the Workforce Policy Council for the Aerospace Industries Association.

Munyon previously served on the faculties of the University of Central Florida and West Virginia University, and as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Haifa (Israel). Before returning to academia, Munyon worked in aviation and airport consulting with Armstrong Consultants and Talbert & Bright. He enjoys performing music (saxophone, drums, penny whistles, and vocals), hiking, traveling, and spending time with his family.

Kevin joined Amazon in 2018 as a Director building communities for partners in the Amazon ecosystem (retail suppliers, delivery providers, and others). The purpose is to improve adoption of operations technology by these groups and to develop better collaborative programs within Amazon’s consumer supply chain.

Prior to Amazon Kevin headed up research and content for SCM World, a London based community of C-Level supply chain executives, which was acquired by Gartner in 2016. Before that he led AMR Research’s supply chain coverage and created the Supply Chain Top 25 as well as Gartner’s Supply Chain University rankings. AMR was also acquired by Gartner (in 2010) where Kevin then served as Group Vice President leading the supply chain business. Kevin was a Senior Research Fellow at Stanford Business School from 2011-2015 and a Distinguished Fellow with the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee since 2015.

Kevin has a B.A. in economics from Boston College, an M.Sc. in Industrial Relations from Oxford University and an MBA from Stanford University.

Tyler Orr is the Career Coordinator for the Global Supply Chain Institute. He supports online supply chain graduate students in their career development, including providing resources and opportunities to help them develop as professionals, network, and expand their career opportunities. Tyler also supports undergraduate supply chain students in preparing for, identifying, and succeeding in professional internship opportunities.

Prior to joining GSCI, Tyler earned an MBA and a Master of Human Resources degree before completing several rotations in the HR development program at USAA, a Fortune 100 financial services and banking company. He has experience in project management, talent management, data and analytics, career development, customer success, and academic research. Tyler has a passion for helping students grow personally and professionally, which led to his decision to transition from industry to higher ed.

Andres Oviedo has mastered the art of supply chain organizational transformations in multicultural and multiregional situations, most recently with Mondelez International. Oviedo is passionate about people development, high-performance organizations, and working systems toward leading results to enable growth. He has served in senior SCM leadership roles in multiple businesses, markets, and countries.

As part of his most recent achievements, Oviedo developed and implemented a HUB operation ecosystem with leading industry performance ratios including leading technology and digitalization, sourcing localization, best-in-class manufacturing practices, innovative distribution operation, end-of-line enhancements of the largest biscuit (cookie) operation in the industry including Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and Ritz.

Oviedo has an EMBA in Global Supply Chain from the University of Tennessee, an MBA from IESA, and a Bachelor of Administrative and Management Science from UNITEC.  His 25+ years of experience in major performance turnarounds, organizational transformation, and strategy execution in challenging environments.

Michelle Painter joined UT in 2019 as the Global Supply Chain Institute’s Marketing Director, with over 18 years of experience in marketing, communications and creative services. Prior to joining UT, Painter served as Marketing Director, Creative Services at Ruby Tuesday, Inc.

John-Patrick Paraskevas earned his Ph.D. in supply chain management with a minor in strategic management from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on buyer-supplier relationships, supply chain representation in the c-suite, and supply chain risk management. Paraskevas’ research has appeared in Journal of Supply Chain Management and the International Journal of Operations and Production Management. His research has been nominated for awards at the Academy of Management (AOM) conference, the Strategic Management Society (SMS) conference, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Paraskevas has worked in the defense industry in the areas of supplier network management and supplier finance. He has taught carrier management, introduction to supply chain and operations management, supply chain risk management, and executive decision making, and has received numerous commendations for teaching excellence.

Dan Pellathy is associate professor of management at Grand Valley State University. Pellathy holds a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, an MBA/MPIA with a focus on international economics from the University of Pittsburgh, and a BA in philosophy and anthropology from Cornell University.

Pellathy’s professional background includes enterprise risk management and he continues to actively consult with companies across a broad range of issues related to strategic supply chain planning, organizational alignment, supply chain risk, and end-to-end operational excellence.

Pellathy’s research interests include supply chain strategy, supply chain integration, and organizational design, with special attention on creating sustainable business success. His research has been published in academic journals including Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Supply Chain Management, and International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. He is also co-author of numerous white papers on forward thinking topics in supply chain management. This work has been featured in practitioner outlets including Supply Chain Management Review and the Wall Street Journal.

Jim Reeve joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee in 1980 after completing his BSBA and MBA from Drake University and his PhD from Oklahoma State University. At the University of Tennessee, Jim is part of the ADMBA, ProMBA, and SEMBA core faculties. He has won seven teaching awards at the University of Tennessee, including the Richard Sanders Award for Excellence in Executive Education. Jim is also part of the author team for the market leading Warren/Reeve/Duchac series of accounting principles textbooks (Cengage).

Jim’s research interests are in the areas of performance management, the lean enterprise, cost management, and supply chain management. He has published over 40 articles in academic and professional journals, including Supply Chain Management Review, Journal of Cost Management, Journal of Management Accounting Research, and the Accounting Review. He has also been a judge for the USA Today/RIT Quality Cup Competition. In addition, Jim has consulted or provided training around the world for a wide variety of organizations, including Boeing, Procter and Gamble, Eastman Chemical, Freddie Mac, AMOCO, Lockheed Martin, Coca Cola, Sony Corp, and Hershey Foods.

Alexandre M. Rodrigues (Ph.D. Michigan State University) is a Senior Lecturer of Supply Chain Management in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Rodrigues has published in supply chain management and logistics journals. He is co-author of the book Business Logistics: The Brazilian Perspective. He has also acted as the chief editor of the journal Latin American Business Review between 2012 and 2014. His teaching and research interests involve: Global logistics strategy and operations; Global/National logistics expenditures and performance indexes; Humanitarian/disaster relief logistics; Supply chain disruptions; Inventory strategy and deployment; and Empirical/theoretical modeling of supply chains.

Lance Saunders is an assistant professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Most recently, he was an assistant professor of supply chain management and analytics at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he specialized in teaching operations management. Saunders has published in the International Journal of Logistics Management, the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, and more. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and MBA at UT, before completing his doctorate at Virginia Tech in 2013.
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Alex Scott is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. Professor Scott’s research focuses on supply chain policy, transportation safety and market dynamics, and buyer-supplier governance structures. His research has appeared in the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, the Journal of Business Logistics, and Transportation Science, among others, and has been covered by numerous industry publications. His work has been presented as evidence in front of a U.S. Congressional subcommittee on transportation safety. Professor Scott regularly presents at national conferences and serves as a referee for various leading academic journals.

Prior to joining academia, Professor Scott worked for nine years in industry, including at a large transportation company, at a large third-party logistics provider, and at an international consulting firm. He has consulted in many industries and countries, including in Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. He has led projects on supply chain strategy (including a multibillion-dollar merger), network design, inventory planning and optimization, and transportation planning, and consulted as an expert witness in a major transportation dispute.

Nancy Scott, Ph.D., MBA, is the leadership development programs director for the Graduate and Executive Education programs, where she designs and heads the leadership development assessments and programming. She has more than a decade of experience in leadership development for working professionals. Scott is a certified facilitator in the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY® methodology, the Strengths Deployment Inventory and the Hogan Assessments.

Shay Scott, Ph.D. is Professor of Practice and the James and Murray Benz Supply Chain Leadership Fellow in the Department of Supply Chain Management at The University of Tennessee. He also serves as Executive Director of UT’s Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) which works with corporate and institutional partners to advance the knowledge and practice of supply chain globally through its forum, educational programs, and research. Since 2014, Dr. Scott has also served as a visiting faculty member at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien).

Dr. Scott is faculty director for the Executive MBA for Global Supply Chain and on the core faculty with responsibility for international business. He is also the faculty director for GSCI’s two MS-SCM programs—the Tri-Continent MS-SCM and the online MS-SCM, in addition to other teaching duties in UT’s graduate, undergraduate, and executive education programs.

Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, he led the Americas International Logistics organization at Dell where he had responsibility for Dell’s outbound supply chain from the US to points throughout the world. While at Dell he also held a variety of other positions of increasing responsibility including leadership positions on key projects that helped to pioneer and refine Dell’s renowned supply chain. Dr. Scott has a US patent for innovative logistics processes.

Scott holds a Ph.D., an MBA, a Master of Science in Industrial & Systems Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. His research focuses in international business, supply chain management, and the future of management education. He and Ted Stank are authors of Leveraging Supply Chain Management to Drive Organizational Success (GRL 2018), and Dr. Scott has written on critical issues for the field such as talent development and digitalization. Dr. Scott has consulted with firms across a wide variety of industries and maintains deep connections with industry. He has studied, worked, and traveled in 55+ countries on six continents.

Ben Skipper is the Executive Director of Aerospace & Defense Executive Programs in Graduate & Executive Education and serves on the faculty of the Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management, Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. In these roles, he works closely with the College’s corporate and institutional partners and students to develop and advance knowledge across industry and academia.

Skipper earned his doctorate in Management from Auburn University and holds an M.S. in Logistics Management from the US Air Force Institute of Technology. Skipper has published work in a variety of management, logistics, and supply chain-related journals including the Journal of Business Logistics, the International Journal of Logistics Management, and the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. He has received several teaching and research awards including a best paper award from the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. His current research interests include supply chain disruption and disruption avoidance, supply chain strategy, and supply chain leadership. Additionally, Dr. Skipper has held tenure track positions at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Georgia Southern University, and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Prior to entering academia, Skipper served for twenty years in the United States Air Force. During this time he held a variety of logistics positions and commanded one of the US Air Force’s strategic supply chain operations squadrons, responsible for worldwide operational support.

Dr. Skipper and his wife have two children and reside in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Professor Song earned her Ph.D. degree in supply chain management from W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. Her research focuses on sustainable operations and supply chain management, innovation, and technology management. Professor Song’s work has appeared in Journal of Operations Management, Information Systems Research, and Decision Sciences Journal. Her research has won best paper awards at DSI annual conferences.

Professor Song has worked in the food and retail industries in the areas of supply chain management, marketing, and finance. She has taught global sourcing and supply chain management, and has won awards for teaching excellence.

Andrea Sordi holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering with a focus on food processing and biotechnology from the University of Genova, Italy. He also holds an Executive MBA in global supply chain management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he has been guest lecturing for the past 3 years.

With 20 years of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods industry (including at Danone, Kraft and Mondelez), Sordi has filled several supply chain and strategic leadership positions, both in Europe and the U.S. Most recently, he was head of global procurement strategy and capabilities and head of global indirect services sourcing for Mondelez Global LLC in Chicago, IL. Additionally, he has led large organizational transformations focused on digitization and data science, process simplification, leading-edge technologies and innovation, and cost leadership in indirect services.

Sordi has served on executive advisory boards for procurement software companies and has been a speaker in procurement international forums (Procurement Leaders, ProcureCon). He has also been cited and interviewed for specialized papers (SCM World) on digitalization, innovation, and cost leadership, and written several research articles on food biotechnology.

Sordi places strong value in people, diversity, trust, and authenticity; his personal purpose is “nurturing others to fulfill their potential and find their success to create a better world.”

Mandyam M. Srinivasan joined the faculty in 1992. His current research interests are in performance modeling and evaluation of manufacturing systems. His teaching interests include performance evaluation, lean production systems design and operation, and supply chain management.

Srinivasan has a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from Northwestern University, and holds the Pilot Corporation Chair of Excellence in Business. His professional experience includes five years of employment in the automobile manufacturing industry. He received the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research from the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences in 2006. He has won numerous awards for excellence in research and teaching.

Srinivasan teaches in the Executive MBA program, the Aerospace & Defense MBA program, the Professional MBA program, and in numerous programs run by the Center for Executive Education. His research and teaching efforts have been supported by grants and contracts from various organizations, including the U.S. Air Force, the National Science Foundation, Northern Telecom, General Motors, Allied Signal-Honeywell, and IBM. He served as the Focus Issue Editor for IIE Transactions on Design and Manufacturing and as an Associate Editor of International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems.

Srinivasan has adopted a breakthrough approach to supply chain management in his book, “Streamlined: 14 Principles for Building and Managing the Lean Supply Chain,” published by Thomson in 2004, and the subsequent book, “Supply Chain Management for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases,” published by Tata McGraw-Hill in 2008.

In his spare time he enjoys playing music on his guitar.

Theodore P. (Ted) Stank is the Harry J. and Vivienne R. Bruce Chair of Excellence in Business in the Department of Supply Chain Management and Faculty Director of the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He also leads the Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative, a joint initiative between UT and leading Fortune 500 partner firms focused on better understanding innovative applications in SCM. He assumed the Bruce Chair following six years in a variety of administrative positions in the Haslam College of Business, including Department Head for Marketing and Logistics, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, and Associate Dean of the Center for Executive Education. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and Distribution from The University of Georgia, an M.A. in Business Administration from Webster University, and a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy.

Dr. Stank’s business background includes sales and marketing experience as an employee of Abbott Laboratories Diagnostic Division. He also served as an operations officer in the United States Navy prior to his industry and academic experience. He has performed consulting and executive education services for numerous organizations, including Anheuser Busch InBev, Dell, IBM, Lowe’s, Norfolk Southern, OfficeMax, Pepsi, Siemens, Sony, Textron, Walgreens, Walmart, Whirlpool, and the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps. He formerly served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and is Educational Advisor to the Health and Personal Care Logistics Conference, Associate Editor for the Journal of Business Logistics and serves on the editorial review boards of Journal of Operations Management and International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management.

Dr. Stank’s research focuses on the strategic implications and performance benefits associated with supply chain management best practices. He is author of over 100 articles in academic and professional journals and has also co-authored five books including 21st Century Logistics: Making Supply Chain Integration a Reality (1999), Handbook of Global Supply Chain Management (2006), Global Supply Chains: Evaluating Regions of the World on the EPIC Framework (2014), Game Changing Trends in Supply Chain Management (2016, and Leveraging Supply Chain Management to Drive Organizational Success (2018). He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching and was named a Logistics Rainmaker by DC Velocity magazine.

Wendy Tate, Ph.D. is a Professor of Supply Chain Management in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee. She teaches Strategic Sourcing and Sustainability to undergraduate, MBA, Executive, and Ph.D. students. She has an interest in the financial impacts of business decisions across the supply chain.

Wendy enjoys research and takes a special interest in translating academic work into classroom learning activities and disseminating her work globally. Her research can be broadly classified under the umbrella of purchasing, but focuses primarily on two different types of business problems; the first is in the area of services purchasing, including outsourcing and offshoring. This area of research has recently expanded into “reshoring,” or bringing manufacturing back to the home country. The second area is on environmental business practices and trying to understand how these initiatives can be diffused across a supply chain and a supply network. She presents at many different venues including both academic and practitioner-oriented conferences. Wendy has published research in many top tier academic journals, including the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, California Management Review, and more. She serves as co-editor-in-chief for the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, as associate editor for three other supply chain journals, and is on the editorial review board and performs ad hoc reviews for multiple other journals. Prior to receiving her Ph.D., she spent 17 years in corporate planning, supply chain management, purchasing, and operations management within the furniture industry.
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Jeff Trombly is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining the UT faculty in August 2021, Jeff was a career transportation analyst, planner, and researcher in both the public and private sectors. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tennessee and was an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Haslam School of Business. Jeff’s teaching interests include logistics planning and operations, supply chain network design and modeling, and advanced transportation technologies.

Kate Vitasek is an international authority on the art, science and practice of highly collaborative business relationships. Her Vested^® business model for highly collaborative relationships and has been featured on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, and Fox Business News. Kate is the author of seven books, including: Vested: How P&G, McDonald’s and Microsoft Are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships, Getting to We: Negotiating Agreements for Highly Collaborative Relationships, and Contracting in the New Economy.  Her work has been featured in over 300 articles including Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive Magazine, Forbes and Journal of Commerce.

Kate is in the Sourcing Industry Group’s “Hall of Fame” and is a World Commerce and Contracting “Fellow.”  She has been named a “Rainmaker” by DC Velocity Magazine, “Woman on the Move in Trade and Transportation” by the Journal of Commerce, and a “Power Influencer” by World Financial Magazine.

Kate is the lead faculty for UT’s Certified Deal Architect Program.

Marianne Wanamaker is a professor of economics, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). She serves as co-editor of Explorations in Economic History and is the former chief domestic economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors, where she also served as the senior labor economist. She is a member of the Federal Workforce Policy Advisory Board, chaired by Ivanka Trump and Wilbur Ross. Dr. Wanamaker is a former Bain & Company consultant. She holds a PhD from Northwestern University and a BA from Vanderbilt University.

Jim Wansley is the Director of the Aerospace & Defense MBA Program, where he has served as the lead finance faculty member since the program’s inception in 2004. He was formerly head of the Finance Department in the Haslam College of Business from 1995-2016. During this time he held the position of Clayton Homes Chair of Excellence in Finance. He previously served on the finance faculty at Louisiana State University. Jim earned a BA degree from Emory University, an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia, and the Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Jim is the author of more than two dozen publications and research papers that have appeared in journals including the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Services Research, Financial Management, The Financial Review, Journal of Financial Research, and the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. Jim is a Veteran and served as an infantry platoon leader in the Army from 1970-1973, the last two years with the 1st Calvary Division at Fort Hood, Texas. Jim holds the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) designation and was on the board of directors of BankEast where he chaired their Asset-Liability Committee.