Haslam College of Business - Leadership Torch Passed in UT Haslam’s Department of Supply Chain Management

Yemisi Bolumole, Ryder Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business has been named the new head of the college’s Department of Supply Chain Management (SCM). This appointment places Bolumole among the first women to lead such a department at the collegiate level. Former department head John Bell, John H. “Red” Dove Professor of Supply Chain Management and Nancy and David McKinney Faculty Fellow, remains with Haslam and will resume his focus on teaching and research.

Enhancing a Tradition of Excellence

Bolumole brings a wealth of academic and industry experience to this leadership role. She worked in the oil/gas and third-party logistics sectors before earning her doctorate in logistics and supply chain management from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom in 2001. Prior to arriving at UT, Bolumole created and directed the flagship transportation and logistics program at the University of North Florida and then served as associate professor of supply chain management for Michigan State University. Bolumole’s research has appeared in more than 40 top-tier academic journals, and from 2022-2024, she served on the Committee on Impacts of Alternative Compensation Methods on Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Retention and Safety Performance, part of the U.S. National Academies’ Transportation Research Board.

Bolumole inherits a thriving department from Bell. During Bell’s tenure from 2021 through 2025, the Haslam SCM department maintained its strong position in academic rankings, including a 2024 ranking as the No. 1 graduate supply chain program and No. 2 undergraduate supply chain program in the U.S. (Gartner) and a 2025 ranking as the No. 3 in supply chain research output globally (The SCM Journal List University Ranking). The department’s Transportation and Logistics Collaborative, which bolsters understanding of how transportation systems, policies and industry interact while supporting U.S. economic development efforts within the field, also launched under Bell’s watch, with Bolumole the driving force behind its creation.

Celebrating Department Leadership

Bell gave his successor high marks, sharing his confidence in her ability to lead and grow supply chain at UT. “Yemisi Bolumole is the ideal leader to guide the Haslam SCM department forward,” he said. “A distinguished scholar, industry-respected expert and academic thought leader, she is a tireless advocate for faculty and student excellence in supply chain education. The department’s future, and Tennessee’s standing in the discipline, could not be in better hands.”

Stephen L. Mangum, Haslam’s dean and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair, believes Bolumole brings the experience needed to sustain the SCM department’s success after Bell.

“Haslam’s Department of Supply Chain Management has a well-deserved reputation as a leader in the discipline, and John Bell’s tenure as department head saw its profile rise internationally,” he said. “Yemisi Bolumole is well positioned to strengthen the department’s work in academics and industry. Through her professional background, her highly regarded academic work and her service with several professional boards and other panels, Yem has developed an exceptional understanding of supply chain’s manifold areas and how supply chain management education must evolve to meet future needs.”

Unstoppable Possibility

Assuming leadership of the elite program, Bolumole expressed enthusiasm for her new role while acknowledging the debt she owes to Bell and previous department heads.

“I have a sense of excitement, but there is a responsibility as well, and I want to acknowledge the shoulders I am standing on,” Bolumole said. “I’m walking into a long history of success in an academically strong program. There is a sense of legacy, and I want to keep the momentum going.”

Bolumole’s vision for Haslam’s SCM program affirms the industry’s evolution and the need for Haslam’s department to continue as a large umbrella covering a multitude of pursuits. She intends to nurture the department’s strong roots, ensuring she is a good steward of the entire structure.

“One of my early academic mentors was Mary Holcomb, who was here when UT was known as a logistics and transportation powerhouse,” Bolumole recalled. “I will remind our stakeholder community where we come from, even as we have become a supply chain powerhouse: We have deep expertise in specific knowledge areas that are still supply chain: purchasing, transportation logistics, planning and operations.”

Acknowledging Haslam’s SCM department is one of the best in the country, Bolumole says it can get better. Academically, she wants students to harness AI and automation to perform certain tasks, enabling supply chain students and professionals to focus on higher-level thinking skills. She also intends to enhance the close industry ties for which the department is known.

“The superpower of my department is that we are academically rigorous, and we provide so much relevance to our corporate partners,” Bolumole said. “We want to elevate our status in both the research and the practice realm.”

Leading the House You Want to Live in

Bolumole chose to pursue the department head role because, early in her career, a great mentor told her to build the house she wants to live in. Years later, she found herself in a unique position — professionally, she is in the house she wants to be in.

“I joined SCM at Hasam because I like it, so why not lead it?” she quips. “Not many academic houses are built with such a strong community culture and a oneness, a wholeness. We are very entrepreneurial, but we are also a team. It’s what attracted me to this department and college. It’s what I’m hoping to continue to steward, protecting it with every fiber of my being.”

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CONTACT:

Scott McNutt, senior business writer/publicist, rmcnutt4@utk.edu