Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution Welcomes New Director

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Burak Eksioglu

The Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) is pleased to announce Burak Eksioglu as its new director.

CELDi is a consortium of six universities including the University of Arkansas, Virginia Tech, the University of Missouri, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University and Oregon State University. The mission is to enable member organizations to achieve logistics and distribution excellence by delivering meaningful, innovative and implementable solutions that provide a return on investment.

Research activities, graduate and undergraduate course offerings, and professional development and continuing education opportunities combine to form the foundation and structure for educating the next generation of engineers in logistics and distribution centers. Each of the academic partners bring complementary expertise to the organization.

Manuel Rossetti stepped down from the role with the beginning of the fall 2020 semester to begin a new role as director of the new Data Science Program at the University of Arkansas.

Rossetti said CELDi has grown into a nationally-recognized research center through the National Science Foundation's Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program.

"The NSF I/UCRC program fosters partnerships between universities and industry, featuring high-quality, industrially relevant fundamental research, strong industrial support of and collaboration in research and education," he said. "Over the last 18 years, CELDi has built a national reputation based on the I/UCRC model within the field of engineering logistics and distribution. After guiding CELDi through its graduation from the NSF program, I am pleased to turn over the future of CELDi to Dr. Burak Eksioglu and look forward to contributing to CELDi's next phase of innovation."

Eksioglu received his doctoral degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida, a master's degree in engineering business management from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, and a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Bogazici University in Turkey.

His research is focused on the area of optimization with applications in transportation, logistics, supply chain management, and healthcare. His research has been sponsored by, among others, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, NASA, and the industry.

Ed Pohl, head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, said Eksioglu's background positioned him well to build on CELDi's success.

"I am excited to have Dr. Eksioglu move into the leadership role of CELDi," he said. "He brings a wealth of leadership experience to the role, having served as the Center Director of a Tier 1 Department of Transportation Center while at Mississippi State. I am confident his leadership experience will continue to make CELDi a national leader of research in logistics and distribution."