Yao Zhao

Dr. Yao Zhao is a professor at the Department of Supply Chain Management at Rutgers – the State University of New Jersey. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University. He was a visiting scholar at MIT Operations Research Center and a visiting professor at Duke Fuqua School of Business. His research interests lie in Supply Chain Management, Analytics, and Healthcare. He published on leading operations research and operations management journals such as Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM), Production and Operations Management, and served as an associate editor for Operations Research and M&SOM. He is the recipient of honorable mention in M&SOM student paper competition in 2001, the National Science Foundation Career Award on Manufacturing Enterprise Systems in 2008, and is nominated as the Dean’s Research Professor for 2019-2022. His MIT System Design Management webinar on the 787 Dreamliner received world-wide attention with 307 attendants from 29 countries and 50+ companies or organizations. His PhD graduates hold tenured (tenure-track) faculty positions in research universities such as the University of Delaware, the University of Scranton, the College of William and Mary, and NJIT, as well as quantitative research positions in JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. He taught core operations / supply chain management courses for all levels at Rutgers Business School, and won the Dean’s Meritorious Teaching Award in 2016. He is a prolific case writer and won the 1st place award of INFORM Case Writing Competition in 2014. His cases and online games were adopted by many institutions in North America and Asia. He designed and taught new core courses such as Supply Chain Analytics and Healthcare Operations Analysis for Rutgers graduate programs. He consulted extensively with companies and governmental agencies such as General Motors, Estee Lauder, Verizon, MTA – NY Transit, Special Olympics, Johnson and Johnson, Fannie Mae, Defense Logistics Agency, Korean Air-Cargo, Robert Wood Johnson hospitals, and Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan. His work on energy supply chain helped the Pakistan government to achieve a significant economic and social impact. He designed the shuttle system for 2014 Special Olympics USA Games and achieved 100% customer satisfaction with a meager budget of $600,000. His research was reported by industry media such as The European Business Review, Aviation Week & Space Technology, International Innovation and Pharmaceutical Executive.