Gartner Gives First-Place Supply Chain Management Ranking to University of Arkansas

The supply chain management undergraduate program in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has been ranked No. 1 in North America by the leading global research firm Gartner.

Gartner, which studies and rates companies and academic programs across a variety of industries, releases its findings on supply chain programs every two years. Arkansas’ program moved up 14 spots in Gartner’s top 25 from the previous rankings in 2018.

Brian Fugate, department chair and the Oren Harris Chair in Transportation, said the Department of Supply Chain Management remains relatively young and it is phenomenal to see this type of recognition. Arkansas launched the department in 2011 under the leadership of Matthew A. Waller and John Ozment.

Its reputation as a top-flight program continues to grow.

“Gartner provides an unbiased report, and this No. 1 ranking recognizes the outstanding work and excellence of our faculty, staff and students,” said Waller, who is now Walton College dean and the Sam M. Walton Leadership Chair in Business. “The ranking also is highly respected throughout industry, which helps our students as they look for internships and move into careers.”

The rankings reflect excellence in three specific areas: industry value, program scope and program size.

“It’s an honor to earn such outstanding recognition,” Fugate said. “Northwest Arkansas has become a hot-spot for the industry with all the great supply chain companies located nearby. It’s important that we do our part to add to that excellence.”

Mike Ogle, Lecturer, Dept. of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at Appalachian State University told SMCR that as an Arkansas grad (BS MS in engineering), he was “happy to see it,” and said he’d be getting back to us with more details on how the numbers played out.

The rest of the top 10 in the Gartner rankings were: Rutgers University, Penn State University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, Auburn University, Northeastern University, Michigan State University and Georgia Tech.

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