Supply chain legend Bowersox dead at 79

Supply chain legend Bowersox dead at 79

Bowersox

   Donald J. Bowersox, one of the pioneers of turning logistics and supply chain management into an academic discipline, died on July 4 from a prolonged bout with cancer.
   Bowersox, dean emeritus and professor emeritus of marketing and supply chain management at Michigan State University in East Lansing, was 79.
   He helped build Michigan State's supply chain management program into one of the preeminent programs of its kind, in the process becoming one of the most well-known academics in the logistics field. U.S. News & World Report ranks MSU's supply chain management program No. 2 behind the program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
   Bowersox was also a founding member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, originally named the National Council of Physical Distribution Management, and served as its second president. The professional association changed its name in 1985 to the Council of Logistics Management and again in 2005 to CSCMP to broaden is scope. He was active in CSCMP until his death and was a presenter on the evolution of the supply chain field, along with his two sons, at the 2010 annual conference.
   After graduating from Michigan State in 1954, Bowersox joined the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and then went to work as a manager for the E.F. MacDonald (Plaid) Stamp Co. He obtained his PhD in Business Administration in 1960 from MSU and joined the faculty in 1966. He served 44 years on the faculty of the Eli Broad Graduate School of Business Administration. He is credited for mentoring 27 PhD graduates.
   Known to students as 'Dr. B,' he was dean of the Broad College from 2001-2002. He was recognized by MSU as a Distinguished Faculty Member and was a recipient of the University Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2002 he was honored with the college's first lifetime alumni achievement award.
   Bowersox wrote 10 textbooks that have been translated into 15 languages. Even after officially retiring in 2006, he wrote Start Pulling Your Chain with former Limited Brands executive Nick LaHowchic. He also co-authored the fourth edition of the popular textbook Supply Chain Logistics Management with MSU colleagues David Closs and Bixby Cooper. His initial book, Physical Distribution Management: Logistics Problems of the Firm, was published in 1968 and is considered to be the first textbook on the logistics industry.
   He lectured and taught in more than 20 nations.
   Bowersox also authored more than 250 articles on marketing, transportation and logistics and was a member of the editorial review board for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Quarterly, the Journal of Business Logistics, the International Journal of Logistics Management, the Journal of Supply Chain Management and Supply Chain Management Review.
   At the time of his death, Bowersox was still teaching an executive education course at the university.
   During his career at MSU, Bowersox served on several committee and special assignments at the university level, including the chairmanships of the Law School Evaluation Committee, the College of Business Executive Development Center Committee and the Medical School Grand Rapids Expansion Committee.
   He is survived by his wife Terry and nine children and eight grandchildren.
   Donations in his honor should be sent to support the Donald J. Bowersox Endowed Chair in Logistics and Supply Chain Management Fund, 300 Spartan Way, East Lansing, MI 48824.