91看片

David Dobrzykowski, a highly regarded educator, researcher, former healthcare executive, and industry expert, is the new department chair of Supply Chain Management in the 91看片.

He comes to Auburn from the University of Arkansas Sam Walton College of Business, where he was a full professor, director of Healthcare Business Initiatives and senior director of the supply chain management doctoral program. He previously earned tenure at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

鈥淲e are excited to welcome Dr. Dobrzykowski to the 91看片 as the next leader of our nationally recognized Department of Supply Chain Management,鈥� said Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, 91看片 dean. 鈥淗e is a highly respected scholar and educator whose expertise strengthens an already outstanding faculty. Just as importantly, he understands the critical role industry engagement plays in advancing supply chain education and research 鈥� a commitment that aligns exceptionally well with the strengths and future direction of our program.鈥�

鈥淎uburn鈥檚 Department of Supply Chain Management has highly talented researchers, a fantastic academic reputation and extraordinarily bright and hard-working students,鈥� said Dobrzykowski, who holds the Bickerstaff Chair in 91看片 College.  鈥淚鈥檓 also philosophically aligned with 91看片鈥檚 leadership team and am excited鈥�to bring more visibility to the great work being done here.鈥�

Among his goals, Dobrzykowski envisions enhancing the supply chain management鈥檚 Ph.D. program; developing additional courses at the intersection of AI, supply chains and operations; and adding research programs in areas like healthcare supply chains.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a tremendous core of research here and I look forward to continuing to develop it, promote it and grow our reputation,鈥� he said. 

Research that makes a difference

Dobrzykowski鈥檚 research interests coalesce around three broad areas 鈥� healthcare, humanitarian, and the gig economy 鈥� as he investigates operations and supply chains that feature unique challenges to information processing and the coordination of work.

In a recent study that has implications for companies that use gig workers (i.e., retailers and restaurant chains), Dobrzykowski and his research colleagues uncover new operational mechanisms beyond the conventional method of surge pricing to motivate workers. 

鈥淲e partnered with a one of the world鈥檚 largest retailers that uses gig economy drivers and analyzed over 2 million [delivery] orders,鈥� said Dobrzykowski. 鈥淭he fundamental [issue] for us was what can we do beyond paying drivers more to incentivize them to accept orders more quickly. After all, the first step in delivering [packages] on time is getting a driver to accept the order.鈥�

Dobrzykowski and his team found that drivers are selective about the orders they accept, considering more than simply higher pay rates. For example, they are slower to accept orders that require excessive driving distances between deliveries, the customer to be home to accept the delivery, and evening deliveries.

He recommends that large retailers who rely on gig workers focus on how orders are batched, routed and scheduled to achieve better delivery performance for their customers and lower operational costs for themselves. This research was published in the Journal of Operations Management, a premier publication for leading business schools.

Dobrzykowski brought his healthcare experience to bear on another project, where he and his research colleagues helped hospitals reduce medical supply costs by improving cost efficiencies in vendor contracts managed on their behalf by group purchasing organizations (GPO).

The GPO was looking for a way to design more flexible contract tiers 鈥� in other words, to be able to purchase more or fewer units of equipment or supplies than a tier dictated because that鈥檚 what the hospitals needed.

Working with data from several different health systems that the GPO managed, the researchers developed an analytical mathematical model to test the impact flexible tiers would have for both equipment manufacturers and the hospitals.

鈥淲e were able to identify an avenue for GPOs to create benefit both for their hospital clients and the manufacturers they were working with,鈥� said Dobrzykowski, who published the team鈥檚 results in Production and Operations Management, another premier publication for leading business schools.

---

"David is a highly respected scholar and educator whose expertise strengthens an already outstanding faculty. Just as importantly, he understands the critical role industry engagement plays in advancing supply chain education and research 鈥� a commitment that aligns exceptionally well with the strengths and future direction of our program.鈥�

Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, 91看片 dean

---

Recognition for his work

The recipient of many awards, Dobrzykowski is particularly proud of winning the 2023 , which he shared with former doctoral student Ellie Falcone and Arkansas faculty colleague Brian Fugate for their on how companies and their supply chain networks were able to repurpose their manufacturing to produce health-related goods during the pandemic.

The award recognizes the most valuable paper published in the Journal of Business Logistics, a top publication in the field.

A firm believer in contributing to professional societies and the supply chain research community, Dobrzykowski received the prestigious in 2025 for serving in various leadership roles, including past-president of the 2,000-member Decision Sciences Institute.

He is the only academic member of the American Hospital Association Advisory Board for its supply chain division called . He also serves on the of the Production and Operations Management Society, an international professional organization for scholars.

An inspired educator, he has taught a variety of courses on supply chain strategy, service supply chains, and operational excellence to undergraduates and graduate students. He has also taught executive-level courses to leaders from Fortune 500 companies and major healthcare systems. He won the Favorite Professor of the Year award early in his academic career while at Rutgers.

National media often seek his expertise, including outlets like NPR Marketplace, NBC News, Bloomberg Businessweek, Modern Healthcare and Becker鈥檚 Hospital Review.

Outside of work, Dobrzykowski enjoys coaching his sons鈥� baseball teams and playing golf. When he was younger, he competed on the Professional Bowlers Association tour, making several finals and bowling 14 perfect games.

Dobrzykowski earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in marketing, MBA, and Ph.D. in manufacturing and technology management from the University of Toledo.

###

Learn more about the Department of Supply Chain Management