12-22-2025
A premier thought leader in supply chain management and business analytics joins Purdue University to teach in the Mitch Daniels School of Business’ Supply Chain and Operations Management Department and in the College of Engineering’s Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering.
David Simchi-Levi comes to West Lafayette from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he held the MIT William Barton Rogers Professorship (named after MIT’s founder and first president), was a professor of engineering systems and served as head of the MIT Data Science Lab.
He joins Purdue through the university’s Moveable Dream Hires program, which is designed to attract high-performing, top-caliber faculty to the university even when the topic-based openings in a given year do not match the moveable talent.
“Purdue offers a unique convergence of engineering strength, manufacturing leadership and data-driven innovation. Few universities have both technical depth and a strategic commitment to industry solutions,” Simchi-Levi says. “This is an ideal environment to advance autonomous supply chains, AI-driven manufacturing and the future of business analytics.”
As part of his joint position between the business school and engineering, Simchi-Levi will lead a center on Data Science for Decision Making. He says the center’s mission is to develop cutting-edge analytic and AI-driven methodologies for decision-making in environments that involve uncertainty and require statistical learning.
“Leveraging Purdue’s strength in engineering, business and industry collaboration, the center brings research to the real world at scale through partnerships in sectors including airlines, finance, high-tech, insurance, manufacturing and retail, accelerating innovation and transforming operational processes across the economy,” Simchi-Levi says.
The Data Science for Decision Making center will provide transformational experiential learning for students, including class projects with industry partners. Faculty will also have opportunities to work closely with practitioners and incorporate data-driven practical considerations in research.
Dr. Samuel R. Allen Dean of the Mitch Daniels School of Business Jim Bullard is thrilled to have Simchi-Levi join the school’s impressive list of dream hires.
“The Daniels School has built a stellar reputation in both supply chain management and analytics, and David's background makes him a perfect candidate to further enhance our standing in those fields,” Bullard says. “Equally important is his interdisciplinary experience, which will be invaluable as he leads a new center on Data Science for Decision Making jointly between our school and the College of Engineering, as well as teaching in both areas.”
At the Daniels School, Simchi-Levi will teach courses in supply chain and business analytics, supply chain technology, and modern supply chain science.
Simchi-Levi is a bridge-builder between theory and practice, says Supply Chain and Operations Management Department head Suresh Chand.
“He easily speaks the languages of both academics and practitioners. While our faculty are contributors and leaders in the study of supply chain and operations management, David’s presence will advance research at the academic-practice interface with both academic and managerial impacts. David is truly a giant in the field. He will provide value to the school, university and the state of Indiana,” Chand says.
“David Simchi-Levi’s pioneering research and successful record of translating ideas into influential companies will bring extraordinary strength to Purdue’s Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering. David’s presence will accelerate our impact in operations management, analytics and innovation, and I am thrilled to welcome him to Purdue,” says Arvind Raman, John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering.
Young-Jun Son, the James J. Solberg Head of the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, is equally excited to welcome Simchi-Levi to Purdue.
“His exceptional and internationally recognized expertise in supply chain management, transportation and logistics systems, statistical learning and decision-making will greatly enhance our program and inspire our students,” Son says. “We look forward to the transformative impact he will have on our research and academic community.”
Simchi-Levi is the former editor-in-chief of Management Science (2018-2023), one of the two flagship journals of INFORMS. He also served as the editor-in-chief for Operations Research (2006-2012), the other flagship journal of INFORMS and for Naval Research Logistics (2003-2005). In 2023, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2020, he was awarded the INFORMS Impact Prize for playing a leading role in developing and disseminating a new, highly impactful paradigm for the identification and mitigation of risks in global supply chains.
He is an INFORMS Fellow, MSOM Distinguished Fellow, Fellow of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), and the recipient of the 2020 INFORMS Koopman Award given to an outstanding publication in military operations research; Ford Motor Co. 2015 Engineering Excellence Award; 2014 INFORMS Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice; 2014 INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing Section Practice Award; and 2009 INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing Section Prize.
He has published more than 200 papers in top academic journals; his papers are highly cited with H-index of 89 and about 40,000 citations (as of December 2025). His PhD students have accepted faculty positions in leading academic institutes including University of California, Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon; Columbia; Cornell; Duke; Georgia Tech; Harvard; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University of Michigan; Purdue; and Virginia Tech.
Simchi-Levi founded LogicTools, which provided software solutions and professional services for supply chain optimization. LogicTools became part of IBM in 2009. In 2012, he co-founded OPS Rules, an operations analytics consulting company that became part of Accenture in 2016. In 2014 he co-founded Opalytics, a cloud analytics platform company focusing on operations and supply chain decisions. The company became part of the Accenture Applied Intelligence in 2018.
