Office: JO 4.924 (4th level Jonsson)
Secretary: Abbie Bailey / 883-2047 / JO 4.814
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - 3:30-5:30 PM

[OPER 6260 - OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT]                 [BA 3352 - PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT]

[My Resume]   [Nancy's Resume]   [Civic Interests]   [Professional Associations]

Personal Narrative

After completing my graduate studies in Industrial Engineering (IE) at Iowa State University, I chose to join the faculty of New Mexico State University to develop an IE program. My research interests were channeled toward the application of industrial engineering techniques in the not-for-profit / public sector with the objective of increasing the public’s benefits from their expenditures through enhancing productivity. This was an extension of my dissertation research and was supported by a "Young Investigator" award from the National Science Foundation. Applications ranged from improving planning and quality management in the Lunar Module program to developing computerized models for school menu planning and inventory control. In order to maintain my contacts with the business community, I joined a partner and created the major computer service bureau in El Paso, Texas.

Developing the IE program to its desired extent at NMSU, I moved to the University of Oklahoma’s Industrial Engineering Department. Continuing to work with the public sector, I developed a doctoral program in Library System’s Management funded through the Department of Education. The program’s goal was to educate librarians with the potential to manage major libraries in an environment of rapidly advancing computer-controlled data systems. Continuing my work with schools, I led the technical activities of a team of four individuals responsible for the desegregation of the Oklahoma City secondary schools. After developing a magnate school system, I was responsible for developing an interactive, class scheduling program, a transportation scheme and the other activities necessary to implement the court’s desegregation order. I also worked extensively with the Department of Transportation to evaluate the effectiveness of their major safety programs.

In January 1973, I joined The University of Texas at Dallas to develop a program in Management Science. Starting with a Masters program, I hired the faculty and developed the curricula, including doctoral programs in Management Science and Masters and doctoral programs in International Management. My next challenge came in the development of an undergraduate program and the hiring of faculty for the upper level undergraduate expansion in 1975, when I became the first Dean of the School of Management. I then assumed the position of the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for the University in 1979. During this time, I developed policies to increase the effectiveness of the individual graduate programs while the student body increased ten-fold and worked to increase the outside research funding by a factor of seven. I also developed the proposal and the original curriculum for the School of Engineering. Following this assignment, I returned to the faculty of the School of Management, teaching Operations Strategy in the Masters program and in the Executive Education programs as well as a course on Information Acquisition and Management.

While at UTD, I also worked with multiple organizations such as the shipbuilding industry as part of a National Research Council Task Force to create the "six hundred ship" Navy. It was my responsibility to increase the manufacturing productivity to enable these vessels to be delivered on time and below cost. This task provided an excellent opportunity to continue the application of industrial engineering techniques to improve productivity. An opportunity to apply strategic operations principles to not-for-profit organizations arose in the arts. Serving on the Boards of the Santa Fe and Dallas Operas has allowed me to see the congruency of strategic management and long-range planning in the arts and in industry and business. My work with Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, allows the application of the same management principles to professional organizations. Continuing my association with schools, the National Science Foundation appointed me the Chair of the National Visiting Committee for the $5 million collaborative grant in Oklahoma to improve the teaching of K-12 Science and Mathematics.

I also have had the opportunity to supervise 19 doctoral dissertations and 11 Masters theses (Engineering).

My professional stature has been recognized through being made a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Civic Interests

Professional Associations