UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- On Aug. 1, Steve Tracey will become the next executive director of the Penn State Smeal College of Business Center for Supply Chain Research. As executive director, Tracey will lead the vision and strategy for the center and serve as an ambassador and spokesman for supply chain activities at Penn State.

Tracey will come to Smeal with almost 30 years of industry experience. He currently serves as senior vice president of global supply chain at Standard Textile Company Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of institutional textiles. Prior, he held leadership roles at American Tool Companies Inc., a global leader in the hand-tool and power tool accessory segment.

“We’re very much looking forward to Steve joining us in August,” said Charles H. Whiteman, John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal. “His several decades of industry experience and deep understanding of the supply chain field position him well to lead this partnership between academia and industry.”

A Penn State alumnus, Tracey earned a bachelor’s degree in finance. He also holds an master of business administration degree from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Current CSCR Executive Director Skip Grenoble will retire this summer. Grenoble joined the supply chain team in 1987 and, under his leadership, the center grew to a membership of 50 companies and helped support supply chain education at the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels.

About the Center for Supply Chain ResearchThe Center for Supply Chain Research is one of the nation’s leading institutions dedicated to research and education in the supply chain field. The center’s mission is to be a leading source of supply chain knowledge creation and dissemination. Working in conjunction with faculty members from various academic areas, the center conducts research in areas such as distribution, warehousing, transportation, procurement and supply, customer service, systems modeling and design, logistics information systems, global logistics and more. Learn more at www.smeal.psu.edu/cscr/.