Author Biography
Brian J. Gibson is executive director of the Center for Supply Chain Innovation and the Wilson Family Professor of supply chain management at Auburn University. Previously, he served on the faculty of Georgia Southern University and as a logistics manager for two major retailers. He has received multiple awards for outstanding teaching, research, and outreach. Gibson's research has been published in the Journal of Business Logistics, International Journal of Logistics Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management Review, Supply Chain Quarterly, and other leading publications. He is coauthor of Transportation: A Supply Chain Perspective, author of the electronic textbook Supply Chain Essentials, and lead author of the annual State of the Retail Supply Chain Report. Dr. Gibson serves as SCPro certification chair and board member for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, education advisor for NASSTRAC, and supply chain steering committee member for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Dr. Gibson earned a BS from Central Michigan University, an MBA from Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in logistics and transportation from the University of Tennessee. John J. Coyle is currently director of corporate relations for the Center for Supply Chain Research and professor emeritus of logistics and supply chain management in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University. He holds a BS and MS from Penn State and earned his doctorate from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he was a U.S. Steel Fellow. He joined the Penn State faculty in 1961 and attained the rank of full professor in 1967. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he has served in a number of administrative positions, including department head, assistant dean, senior associate dean, special assistant for strategic planning to the university president, and executive director of the Center for Supply Chain Research. He also served as Penn State's faculty representative to the NCAA for 30 years and to the Big Ten for 10 years. Dr. Coyle was the editor of the Journal of Business Logistics from 1990 to 1996. He has authored or coauthored 20 books or monographs and numerous articles in professional journals. He has received 14 awards at Penn State for teaching excellence and advising. In addition, he received the Council of Logistics Management's Distinguished Service Award in 1991; the Philadelphia Traffic Club's Person of the Year Award in 2003; and the Eccles Medal from the International Society of Logistics for his contributions to the Department of Defense and the Lion's Paw Medal from Penn State for Distinguished Service, both in 2004. Dr. Coyle currently serves on the boards of three logistics and supply chain service companies and on the Advisory Board of the NLDC and continues to be active in teaching in the Executive Education Programs at Penn State. Robert Novack is an associate professor of supply chain management in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems at Penn State University. From 1981 to 1984 he worked in operations management and planning for the Yellow Freight Corporation in Overland Park, Kansas, and from 1984 to 1986 he worked in planning and transportation at Drackett Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Novack's numerous articles have been published in such publications as the Journal of Business Logistics, Transportation Journal, and International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. He also is a coauthor of Creating Logistics Value: Themes for the Future. Active in the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, he has served as overall program chair for the annual conference, as a track chair, and as a session speaker as well as a member of numerous committees. Dr. Novack holds the CTL designation from AST&L and is a member of WERC. He earned a BS degree and an MBA in logistics from Penn State University
