Dr. Ernest Nichols
Chair | Associate Professor
Biography
Dr. Nichols is Interim Chair, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, and
Director of Supply Chain Management Academic Programs in the Department of Marketing
and Supply Chain Management of the Fogelman College of Business & Economics at The
University of Memphis. Dr. Nichols also served as the Director of the FedEx Center
for Supply Chain Management at The University of Memphis from 1996 to 2016.
Dr. Nichols’ research addresses a range of SCM issues. His research has been published
in the Academy of Management Journal, Decision Sciences, Industrial Marketing Management,
International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, International
Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, Journal of Business and Industrial
Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Marketing and Journal
of Operations Management and MIS Quarterly Executive. He is co-author of Introduction to Supply Chain Management (Prentice Hall 1999) and Supply Chain Redesign: Transforming Supply Chains into Integrated Value Systems (FT Press 2002).
Dr. Nichols has conducted research projects and educational programs focused on improving
supply chain and organizational performance with a number of organizations including,
AutoZone, Best Buy, Boehringer Mannheim, Buckman, Concours Group, FedEx, Ford, Government
of Canada, Hewlett Packard, ILS, Ingram Micro, Johnston & Murphy, Lifeblood, L.L.
Bean, THE MED, Mallory Alexander International Logistics, Medtronic, Memphis Housing
Authority, Memphis/Shelby County Government, Methodist Healthcare, Michigan State
University, Raytheon, Reliant Energy, Roche Diagnostics, SCI Systems, Shinko Electric,
Smith & Nephew, Sun Microsystems, Thomas & Betts, Texas Instruments, Tsinghua University,
The University of Memphis, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Navy, Vitro, and others. Prior to his doctoral
studies, Dr. Nichols was a management consultant with Dialog Systems, Inc.
Dr. Nichols holds a BA in Economics from the University of Maine. He received an MBA
with a concentration in Materials and Logistics Management and a Ph.D. in Business
Administration from Michigan State University. He has twice received the Palmer Professorships
from the Fogelman College of Business & Economics in recognition of his research and
service accomplishments and received the Marketing and Supply Chain Management Department
Outstanding Teacher Award in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Dr. Nichols was named a George
Johnson Fellow in the Fogelman College based on his teaching performance in 2019.
Teaching
- SCMS 2610 Introduction to Supply Chain Management
- SCMS 4650/6650 Supply Management
- SCMS 7313 Supply Chain Operations Management