LAKELAND, Fla., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Southern College has named Dr. Ridvan Gedik as the David P. and Constance W. Lyons Endowed Chair in Logistics in the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise.

"The Florida Southern community remains extremely grateful to Constance Lyons and Scott and Jennifer Thornton for their significant contributions to establish this prestigious endowed professorship, which allowed us to recruit a nationally renowned professor in such an important and fast-growing field," said Dr. Anne B. Kerr, president of Florida Southern College.

Prior to Dr. Gedik's current position as associate professor of supply chain management at Florida Southern, he served at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., where he was responsible for building an analytics-oriented curriculum for a new Bachelor of Science in Supply Chain Management degree. He also has worked at both the University of New Haven in Connecticut and the Institute for Systems Engineering Research — a joint institution of Mississippi State University and the U.S. Army — in Vicksburg, Miss.

Lakeland and Central Florida are widely recognized as a transportation and logistics axis for many companies, and the David P. and Constance W. Lyons Endowed Chair in Logistics directly reflects the strong relationships between FSC and major industries in the region. Dr. Gedik has said his mission at FSC is to ensure that all graduates entering the field of global supply chain management and logistics have the requisite skills and knowledge to address tomorrow's emerging business challenges and to become future leaders of global companies.

"It was crucially important that the next recipient of the Lyons Chair have a stellar record as a teacher-scholar," said Dr. Brad Hollingshead, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "Dr. Gedik has excelled in the classroom, and his scholarly contributions are outstanding. His ability to integrate his teaching and research will positively impact our students and prepare them to lead in a sector that is vital to the economy."

Dr. Gedik's primary research interests include developing efficient, large-scale optimization solutions in the areas of supply chain management, military logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, and homeland security.

"I am honored to have been named the David P. and Constance W. Lyons Endowed Chair in Logistics," Dr. Gedik said. "Thanks to this wonderful endowment — and the exceptional work of my talented colleagues in the Barnett School, who paved the way for an analytics-oriented curriculum in all programs — I will be developing new courses in the nexus of supply chain management, business analytics, and artificial intelligence."

Dr. Gedik earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

About Florida Southern College

Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in the state. It maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio; is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning; and boasts 30 NCAA Division II national championships. It is ranked among the top 10 Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report in its 2021 "Best Colleges" guide, and is included in The Princeton Review's 2021 "386 Best Colleges" guide, the "Fiske Guide to Colleges 2021," and Forbes magazine's "America's Top Colleges." Home to the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, FSC was twice named "Most Beautiful Campus in the Nation" by The Princeton Review, and one of the nation's "Ten College Campuses with the Best Architecture" by Architectural Digest. Connect with Florida Southern College.

www.FLSouthern.edu

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SOURCE Florida Southern College