John Macdonald

Dr. John R. Macdonald is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. His teaching interests include logistics and supply chain management, supply chain strategy and transportation. His primary research interests include disruptions in the supply chain and behavioral operations, with minor areas including supply chain strategy, issues in transportation, and strategies for third-party logistics providers. Dr. Macdonald was awarded the Krowe Teaching Award at the University of Maryland in 2008 for excellence in teaching. He has been recognized for teaching excellence both at the University of Maryland and the University of Iowa.

John received his Ph.D. in Logistics and Transportation from the University of Maryland -College Park. There he majored in Logistics and minored in Operations Management. He has Bachelor of Science degrees in Transportation and Logistics as well as Management Information Systems; both from Iowa State University. Prior to earning his doctorate, he worked for UTi Worldwide Group as a consultant in strategic supply chain network design as well as a Supply Chain Solutions Architect in the Asia/Pacific region based in Singapore. He has also held positions at Naigai Nitto in Singapore, as well as Allied Van Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, Ruan Transportation, and J.M. Swank (ConAgra) in the U.S. in a variety of capacities such as Assistant Manager, Transportation Analyst, Dispatcher, Operations Analyst, and IT developer.

John has published work in the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Business Logistics, Transportation Journal, International Journal of Production Research, Operations Management Research, and the Supply Chain Management Review, as well as academic case studies through the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. He is an active speaker at professional and academic meetings and has published in various conference proceedings. John is an active member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.