Program Faculty

Smeal has assembled a faculty of leaders who possess that exceptional combination of intelligence, character, vision and compassion; the most valued qualities in business leadership.

The Smeal faculty ranks among the top 20 for research excellence across all disciplines. In strategy, we are ranked third in the country, with two of our professors listed among the top 10 coaches in the world for strategy and leadership.

Faculty members in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems have won numerous teaching awards, have earned national and international reputations, and are respected by both business professionals and academics.

Here you find a complete listing of your faculty leaders for the Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management.

	John Stevens, Director, Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management. John Stevens has teaching experience in operations management and business strategy. He is an Emeritus Professor of Management, former Chair of Lehigh University’s Department of Management and a founder of Lehigh’s Center for Value Chain Research. An Army National Guard major general, John returned to active duty in September 2001 to serve as Assistant Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Material Command where his duties included weapons system life cycle cost management, performance metrics and measurement, support to deployed forces and construction management. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a graduate of the Army War College and the Army Logistics Management College. jes58@psu.edu
	Gary L. Gittings, Faculty Lead, On-Line Certificate Program, Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems and Sr. Research Associate, Pennsylvania Transportation Institution Gary Gittings has teaching expertise in principles of supply chain management, order fulfillment and distribution systems, and supply chain systems design and strategy. His research focus is freight transport and logistics policy, with particular emphasis on infrastructure finance, decision-making, and investment. Gary currently is the Faculty Lead for the Supply Chain and Information Systems Graduate Certificate Program offered by Penn State's World Campus and the Smeal College of Business. He also is a Senior Research Associate with the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute and a Research Associate with the Center for Supply Chain Research, both at Penn State University. For the last seven years, Gary has been teaching online courses in the graduate certificate program which provides fully accredited supply chain management education to adult learners, regardless of location, via the World Wide Web. Gary earned a Master of Science in Transportation from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Penn State University. glg@psu.edu
	Terry P. Harrison, Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems Terry Harrison has teaching and research interests in the areas of supply chain management and modeling, large scale production and distribution systems, decision support systems, applied optimization and the management of renewable natural resources. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Management Science. tharrison@psu.edu
	Douglas J. Thomas, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management Douglas Thomas has expertise in inventory management, production planning and coordination, and sales and operations planning. He is a research associate with the Center for Supply Chain Research and teaches courses in supply chain management and quantitative modeling at the undergraduate and MBA levels. He has twice been honored with the MBA Excellence in Teaching Award and is a frequent faculty leaver in both open-enrollment and custom executive development programs. His current research interests include coordinating production and inventory planning across the extended enterprise and connecting decision models to logistics performance measurement. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. dthomas@psu.edu
	Evelyn A. Thomchick, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management Evelyn Thomchick has expertise in international logistics, transportation policy, and logistics education and skills. She is academic program co-director of Penn State?'s Executive Management Program for Transportation and Highway Engineers. Prior to joining Penn State, she was employed by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, where she worked on the implementation of a computer-based model designed to schedule ocean vessels for Bethlehem's Marine Operations Division. She also served on a systems design team that studied the U.S. air cargo transportation system, at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Management from Clemson University. ethomchick@psu.edu
	John E. Tyworth, Professor of Supply Chain Management John Tyworth has expertise in supply chain systems analysis and logistics cost models for transportation mode choice. He is the current chair of the Supply Chain and Information Systems Department at Penn State. John teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in supply chain and logistics management. His work experience includes traffic management and air cargo operations. He was an active duty officer in the Air Force when he performed transportation/logistics duties under the Strategic Air Command and the 14th Air Force (RVN). In addition, he continued his service as a reserve officer in the acquisition/procurement area for HQ Air Force and later for DLA. He also has consulting experience with major companies in the railroad, trucking, air cargo, food products, forest products, wire and cable, offshore rig/platform supply, and information technology industries. He earned his Ph.D. in Logistics from Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. jet@psu.edu
	Frank L. Chelko, Instructor of Operations & Supply Chain Management Frank Chelko is a Supply Chain and Information Systems instructor with the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. and 2008 recipient of the Dillwyn Paste III Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Mr. Chelko's instructional expertise includes: Manufacturing and Service Operations, Quality Management, New Product Introduction, Materials Management and Procurement Strategies, Lean Supply Chains as well as Six Sigma Black Belt Training/Certification. His employment for the Smeal College of Business began in the spring semester of 2001. flc105@psu.edu
	David Huff, Clinical Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management David Huff is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management in the Smeal College of Business Administration at the Pennsylvania State University, joining in the fall of 2004. While finishing his Ph.D., David spent the last two years in visiting positions, first at the Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah and then at the Stern School of Business at New York University. David teaches Supply Chain Management and Management Science courses for undergraduate and Masters in Quality and Manufacturing Management programs. His research interests include inventory management decisions and their interdependencies with sales-force incentives. dhuff@psu.edu
	Alan Stenger, Professor of Supply Chain Management Since joining the Penn State faculty in 1972, Dr. Stenger has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in supply chain management, logistics systems management, logistics research methods, carrier management, transportation economics and quantitative methods in logistics. He was Graduate Advisor for the Department of Business Logistics for 16 years, and is currently Associate Director of the Center for Supply Chain Research. Dr. Stenger has engaged in a wide range of educational and consulting activities both in the United States and abroad. This includes work with companies in the industries such as the chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods, glass, information technology, and railroad. ajs@psu.edu
	John Coyle, Director of Corporate Sponsors for the Center for Supply Chain Research, Professor Emeritus of Business Administration John J. Coyle was the first person to teach a course at Penn State under the label "Business Logistics". After joining the faculty in 1961, he played an active role in developing the logistics and transportation program at Penn State. Dr. Coyle served as Executive Director of the Center for Supply Chain Research(CSCR) from 1989 until 2000. He currently is the Director of Corporate Relations for CSCR and Professor Emeritus of Business Administration. His many career highlights include 12 college and university awards for outstanding teaching and advising. In 2001, he received the Distinguished Lions Paw Award for outstanding service to the University. He received the Council of Logistics Management's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, in 1991. Coyle is President of CLSA Associates, a Supply Chain and Logistics Consulting Company. He is a member of the Board of Sears Logistics Services Company, ChemLogix, and Avicon. jjc1@psu.edu
	David Demers, Adjunct Professor, Supply Chain Management David Demers, Avicon's president and co-founder, is responsible for the thought leadership of the firm and its clients. Dave has a unique understanding of supply chain management discipline, allowing him to ensure that supply chain best practices are integrated with leading-edge technologies. He has led major initiatives involving the redesign of supply chain strategies on both a national and international basis. Dave has broad, cross-industry expertise developed through his 25 years of successful consulting and industry experience. He co-founded the Performance Resource Group, a supply chain consulting practice, and held senior management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, M&M Mars, and Ore-Ida Foods, a division of H.J. Heinz. Dave is a member of the Supply Chain Council-North America Leadership Team. He holds an M.B.A. degree in business logistics from Pennsylvania State University. dud5@psu.edu
	Susan B. Purdum, Administrative Director and Sr. Research Assistant for the Center for Supply Chain Research (CSCR) As one of two full-time faculty members within CSCR, Ms. Purdum is involved in all aspects of advancing the Center’s mission in research, corporate outreach, executive education, and benchmarking.  Sue develops content for industry forums, benchmarking symposia, and executive education. Her research efforts include work for the Supply Chain Council, National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, IBM, Lockheed Martin, and U.S. Marine Corps.  Her executive education engagements include DuPont, Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP), Pfizer, Defense Logistics Agency, ExxonMobil, U.S. Postal Service, Air Force Medical Logistics, and U.S. Army’s Logistics Transformation Agency.  Sue has co-authored case studies and research publications on behalf of CSCR.  She has also consulted for a number of firms and recently, was selected as a faculty intern and Sr. Management Consultant for IBM’s Global Business Services Public Sector Practice. sbp3@psu.edu
	Norm Aggon, Instructor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, Assistant Department Head Mr. Aggon is currently the Assistant Department Chairman for Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration's highly ranked Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems. He teaches supply chain courses at the undergraduate level including the senior level capstone course and various  junior level courses  He is a member of the graduate faculty and teaches at the graduate level not only in Penn State’s highly acclaimed Master of Manufacturing Management program and but also in Smeal’s Supply Chain Professional Master’s Degree Program. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State University, Mr. Aggon had 26 years of experience in various executive and supply chain management positions. He worked for firms such as Pfizer, Engelhard and Tarmac, Ltd. and smaller independent ones such as Chemstone Corporation—a subsidiary of Merriweather Capital Corporation. His diverse senior management experience included positions such as Senior Vice President of Operations and Division General Manager. During his career he had complete P&L responsibility including sales, marketing, manufacturing, sourcing, engineering, etc. He has a B. S. degree in Engineering from Penn State and a Master of Business Administration from James Madison University. nxa12@psu.edu