Ernest Nichols

Dr. Nichols is Chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management and Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at The University of Memphis.  Dr. Nichols 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 performance with a number of organizations including, Accenture, 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 and Economics in recognition of his research and service accomplishments.  Dr. Nichols received the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management Outstanding Teacher Award three times.  In 2019, he was named a George Johnson Fellow in the Fogelman College based on his teaching performance.