Robert Handfield

Robert B. Handfield

Career

Robert B. Handfield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, a position he has held since 1999. He is also the Executive Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at NC State. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Purchasing and Operations Management at Michigan State University from 1995 to 1999, and an Assistant Professor at the same institution from 1992 to 1995. 

Education

Handfield received his Ph.D. in Operations Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990, with a dissertation titled "A Study of Factors Affecting Delivery Speed in Make-to-Order Manufacturing." He holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from the University of British Columbia, obtained in 1985.

Publications

Handfield has an extensive publication record, with over 150 refereed journal articles and numerous books, book chapters, and technical reports to his credit. His work has been cited over 30,600 times, and he has an h-index of 67 and an i-10 index of 110 according to Google Scholar. Some of his notable publications include articles in journals such as the Journal of Operations Management, International Journal of Production Research, and Decision Sciences Journal.

Editorial Activities

Handfield has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Operations Management from 2001 to 2006, during which he improved the journal's citation index and impact factor to become the top-ranked journal in the field of operations management. He has also been an Area Editor for Supply Chain Management at the Decision Science Journal since 2002 and has served on the editorial advisory boards of several other journals, including the Journal of Supply Chain Management and the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management.

Professional Recognition and Research Grants

Handfield has published more than 150 peer reviewed journal articles and is regularly quoted in global news media such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Bloomberg, NPR, Washington Post, the Financial Times, and NPR.  Handfield has received numerous awards and research grants throughout his career. In 2017, he was inducted into the Research Leadership Academy at NC State University and received the Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award. He has also been awarded the Grand Prix ACA Bruel Plumes des Achats in 2015 for co-authoring the best purchasing book of the year. Additionally, he has received research grants from organizations such as the IBM Center for the Business of Government, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation.

Teaching and Service

He served on the Joint Acquisition Task Force during COVID and was also invited to serve on the Biden White House Counsel of Economic Advisors in January 2022. He testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security in March 2021, on the need to re-build a domestic pharmaceutical industry.