Dr. Kuntal Bhattacharyya (Dr. B) recently joined Old Dominion University (ODU) as inaugural Director of ODU's School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations. Dr. Bhattacharyya brings along two decades of rich and diverse expertise intersecting educational leadership, scholarship, and teaching with multiple years of corporate experience in strategic sourcing, supply chain management, financial economics, and consulting.

Prior to joining ODU, Dr. B spent thirteen years at Indiana State University’s Scott College of Business where he helped design a state-of-the-art supply chain program, seeded and directed the Center for Supply Management Research, and served in multiple leadership roles at the college of business – notably chairperson of the Department of Marketing & Operations, executive director of business graduate programs where he spearheaded the launch of the online MBA, and more recently as director of the logistics 4.0 innovation hub – a unique industry collaboration to infuse cutting-edge technology (AI/ML/Robotics) into curricula and Indiana workforce.

In his current role as Director & Beazley Professor of the new School of Supply Chain, Logistics, and Maritime Operations (SSCLMO) at ODU, Dr. Bhattacharyya seeks to harvest his core skillsets in industry engagement, designing practitioner-focused curricula, upskilling, and workforce development to transform the SSCLMO into a regional and national powerhouse of innovation and research, bridging the gap between academia and the industry with hands-on, experiential learning experiences for future business leaders. Kuntal’s research has focused on the intersection of global supply chain management and industry 4.0 attributes and has been published in esteemed outlets like Computers and Industrial Engineering, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Management Review, Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Advanced Mathematical Modelling, among others.

 As a subject matter expert (SME) with a critical focus on student success and bridging the skills-gap for supply chain, logistics, and advanced manufacturing jobs, Dr. Bhas offered multiple keynote speeches at annual meetings of prestigious practitioner organizations like the Indiana Motor Truck Association (IMTA) and Indianapolis Transportation Club (ITC), among others. Dr. Bhattacharyya holds a Ph.D. in Operations Management from Kent State University, an M.B.A. in Management from the University of Akron, and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. In addition, he is also a certified risk manager (CRM).