John J. Coyle is Professor Emeritus of Logistics and Supply Chain Management in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from Penn State and earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he was a U.S. Steel Fellow. He joined the Penn State faculty in 1961 and attained the rank of full professor in 1967. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he has served in a number of administrative positions, including Department Head, Assistant Dean, Senior Associate Dean, Special Assistant for Strategic Planning to the university president, and Executive Director of the Center for Supply Chain Research. He also served as Penn State's faculty representative to the NCAA for 30 years and to the Big Ten for 10 years. Dr. Coyle was the editor of the Journal of Business Logistics from 1990 to 1996. He has authored or co-authored 25 books or monographs and 38 articles in academic and professional journals. He has received 14 awards at Penn State for teaching and/or advising. In addition, he received the Council of Logistics Management's Distinguished Service Award in 1991, the Philadelphia Traffic Club's Person of the Year Award in 2003, the 2004 Eccles Medal from the International Society of Logistics for his contributions to the Department of Defense and the 2004 Lion's Paw Medal from Penn State for Distinguished Service. Dr. Coyle currently serves on the board of a logistics and supply chain service company. Robert Novack is an associate professor of supply chain management in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems at Penn State University. From 1979 to 1981, he worked in operations management and planning for the Yellow Freight Corporation in Overland Park, Kansas, and from 1981 to 1984, he worked in planning and transportation at Drackett Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Novack's numerous articles have been published in such publications as the Journal of Business Logistics, Transportation Journal, Supply Chain Management Review and International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. In addition to this book, Dr. Novack has also co-authored SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A LOGISTICS PERSPECTIVE. Active in the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, he has served as overall program chair for the annual conference, functioned as a track chair and served as a session speaker as well as participated as a member of numerous committees. Dr. Novack holds the CTL designation from AST&L and is a member of WERC. He earned his B.S. degree and an M.B.A. in logistics from Penn State University and his Ph.D. in logistics from the University of Tennessee. Brian Gibson is a professor of supply chain management and program coordinator for the Department of Aviation and Supply Chain Management at Auburn University. He served for five years on the faculty of Georgia Southern University as director of the Southern Center for Logistics and Intermodal Transportation. Dr. Gibson also has 10 years of experience as a logistics manager for two major retailers. An accomplished faculty member, Dr. Gibson has received multiple awards for outstanding teaching, research and outreach -- most notably the 2006 Auburn University Alumni Association Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award. He has co-authored more than 50 refereed and invited articles in leading publications such as the Journal of Business Logistics, Supply Chain Management Review, International Journal of Logistics Management International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. He is actively engaged in executive education, seminar development and consulting with many prominent organizations. Dr. Gibson serves in leadership roles for the Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals, the Distribution Business Management Association and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. He earned a B.S.B.A. from Central Michigan University, an M.B.A. from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. in logistics and transportation from the University of Tennessee.
