Roberta S. Russell

Russell joined the Virginia Tech faculty as an assistant professor in 1983. Her primary research and teaching interests are in the areas of operations and supply chain management, service operations, and security, privacy, and trust. Russell began her research with the scheduling and design of manufacturing operations. More recently, her research has examined issues in quality and supply chain management, with special emphasis on humanitarian and health care operations.

During her career at Virginia Tech, Russell has published in a number of top journals in her field including Journal of Operations Management, Decision Sciences, IIE Transactions, IEEE Transactions, Annals of Operations Research, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Production Economics and Computer Law and Security Review. She currently serves as associate editor for two academic journals and has co-authored two textbooks, “Operations and Supply Chain Management,” in its 11th edition, and “Service Operations Management,” in its second edition.

Earning promotions to associate professor in 1988 and to professor in 1993, Russell’s outstanding scholarship and work in the Pamplin College of Business led to her appointment as head of the Department of Business Information Technology in 2017 where she has been directly engaged in a number of high-priority initiatives within the college. 

Russell has earned the Pamplin College of Business Certificate of Teaching Excellence on two occasions, Pamplin’s Excellence in Diversity award, the University Certificate of Teaching Excellence, and the MBA Association's Outstanding Professor Award. In 2016, Russell received the Gyrna Award from the American Society of Quality for her research in healthcare quality. The award recognizes the paper, published in the preceding year, which has made the largest single contribution to the extension of understanding and knowledge in the philosophy, principles, or methods of quality management.

Russell served as president of the APICS Foundation (now ASCM) and co-director of the Supply Chain Academic Talent Initiative. She is a past president of the Southwest Virginia Chapter of APICS, the professional association for supply chain management, and has held numerous offices in the Decision Science Institute and the Production and Operations Management Society.

Russell earned a Ph.D. and a B.S. from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Old Dominion University. She holds two professional certifications from ASCM: Certified Fellow in Production and Inventory Management and Certified Supply Chain Professional.