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Missie Bowers

Melissa Bowers

Beaman Professor in Business

Location Room - 255, Stokely Management Center

Department:

Business Analytics & Statistics

Program:

Aerospace & Defense, Executive Education, Full-Time MBA, Operations Excellence, Professional MBA

Center:

Business Analytics Forum, Global Supply Chain Institute

View Faculty Publications

Biography

Melissa R. Bowers, is the Beaman Professor of Business in the Haslam College of Business at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her teaching and research interests include Production Planning and Scheduling, Supply Chain Optimization, Lean Manufacturing, Lean MRO, Theory of Constraints, Visualization, and Applied Discrete Optimization Models. She served as the Vice President of Education for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) from 2019 to 2022.

Bowers has worked with organizations such as ALCOA, Phillips Petroleum, Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Hanesbrands Inc., the United States Air Force, Boeing, the University of Tennessee Medical Center, and Cherry Point Naval Air Base. She has published in MIT Sloan Management Review, Decision Sciences, European Journal of Operational Research, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, Computers and OR, Business Horizons, Naval Research Logistics and several other academic and professional journals. Bowers was the recipient of the 2016 Allen H. Keally Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2012 and 2015 Richard Sanders Outstanding Leadership in Executive Education Award, the 2014, 2020, and 2023 MSBA Outstanding Service to Students Award, the 2011 Outstanding MBA First Year Faculty Award, and the 2023 MSBA Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, among others. She is a co-author of the book, Lean Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul: Changing the Way You Do Business.

Expertise:

Applied Optimization, Lean Operations, Supply Chain Analytics

Education:

1989 Clemson University, Ph.D., Management Science

1982 University of Georgia, B.S., Biochemistry

Awards/Honors
  • MSBA Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, 2023
  • MSBA Faculty Outstanding Commitment to Students Award, 2023
  • Outstanding MBA Second Year Faculty Award, 2023
  • Master’s in Business Analytics, Faculty Outstanding Commitment to Students Award, 2020
  • University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research Fellow, 2019-2020
  • INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics Outstanding Reviewer, 2019
  • Allen H. Keally Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business, 2016
  • Richard Sanders Outstanding Leadership in Executive Education Award, University of Tennessee Center for Executive Education, Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee, 2015
  • Master’s in Business Analytics, Faculty Outstanding Commitment to Students Award, 2014
  • Richard Sanders Outstanding Leadership in Executive Education Award, University of Tennessee Center for Executive Education, University of Tennessee College of Business, 2012
  • Beaman Professor of Business, 2012-present
  • Business Analytics Scholar, University of Tennessee College of Business, Department of Statistics, Operations, and Management Science, 2010-2012
  • Outstanding MBA First Year Faculty Award, University of Tennessee College of Business, 2011
  • McKamey Scholar, University of Tennessee College of Business, 2009-2011
  • Reagan Faculty Scholar, University of Tennessee College of Business, 2001-2002
  • Outstanding MBA First Year Faculty Award, University of Tennessee College of Business, 2000
  • John B. Ross Outstanding Teacher Award, University of Tennessee College of Business, 1999
  • Gamma Beta Sigma National Business Honor Society
  • Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
  • Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society
  • Golden Key National Honor Society