UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Gartner Inc. has once again ranked the Penn State Smeal College of Business as No. 1 in North American graduate supply chain programs in a recent report.
This marks the fifth time Penn State Smeal has earned top billing in Gartner’s published rankings since 2008.
“It was gratifying to learn that Penn State had retained the No. 1 ranking for graduate supply chain education,” said Nicholas Petruzzi, professor of supply chain management and Robert G. and Caroline Schwartz Professor of Business. “It’s a testament to our internal and external stakeholders, and to the rigor, relevance and impact of our professional supply chain programs.”
Penn State ranked No. 3 in supply chain undergraduate programs, and ranked second among the list of industry value leaders and program size leaders.
Gartner's rankings were based on three categories of criteria: program scope, industry value and program size. New in 2020, formal global content, as well as diversity and inclusion, were added to the scoring process.
Program scope measured for best curricula that prepares students for supply chain careers. For industry value, Gartner surveyed university programs and supply chain practitioners on program reputation and recruitment. Finally, program size was evaluated using the number of full- and part-time supply chain students with full-time faculty.
Data for this research is gathered through surveys of academia and industry. The surveys are designed to identify industry sentiment and recruiting patterns, and to gather information on university program composition, including numbers of students and professors, as well as the scope of the curriculum.
The Gartner report is intended to help supply chain leaders identify university partners best equipped to help them recruit the right talent.
Kevin Linderman, the John J. Coyle Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and the new chair of the Supply Chain and Information Systems Department, said Smeal’s tradition of excellence in the field influenced his decision to join the college.
“I’m excited to be a part of such a dedicated and accomplished department and college,” Linderman said. “The opportunity to play a central role among a group of such talented individuals was appealing from the start.”
Gartner Inc. is a leading research and advisory company. Its nearly 17,000 associates serve more than 15,000 client enterprises in 100 countries.