Yemisi Bolumole is the Ryder Professor of Supply Chain Management in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business. In 2024, she was named the director of the Global Supply Chain Institute’s Transportation and Logistics Collaborative.
Before joining UT, Bolumole was an associate professor of supply chain management for the Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business 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, Bolumole worked in the oil/gas and third-party logistics sectors in operations management and business development. She earned her Ph.D. in Logistics and SCM from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom in 2001.
Bolumole’s research emphasis includes third-party logistics and transportation outsourcing; transportation policy, especially business-to-government interactions; SCM’s broad implications for stakeholders and society; and talent development at the human resource management interface with SCM. Her research program 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 and Logistics Management, the International Journal of Logistics Management, the 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, Bolumole’s research fills a critical gap in understanding the equilibrium effects between supply chain investments, activity, and their policy effects. Her excellence in research has been recognized with several awards, including the Bernard J. LaLonde Prize for Best Paper in the Journal of Business Logistics. Her research in the policy area has garnered significant attention, receiving visibility during the COVID-19 pandemic through an invited multipart series of articles published in Supply Chain Management Review.
A certified SAP solutions architect and consultant, she has led curricular enhancement efforts in the SCM department at two 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.
In addition to her research and teaching accomplishments, Bolumole holds several leadership roles in the professional community. She led an eight-member committee of business executives to create and successfully launch APICS’ first logistics certification product. A regular speaker at supply chain professional events, she has served on several task forces nationwide, including as an advisory panel member for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority/Florida Department of Transportation Regional Transportation Agency Study. In her current academic service roles, she is a senior editor for the Journal of Business Logistics and an editorial review board member for the Transportation Journal and The International Journal of Logistics Management.