Rafay Ishfaq is the Reed Family Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management
in the Harbert College of Business. Dr. Ishfaq's career spans 15+ years in academia,
following a nearly 10 year long experience working in production and supply management
roles in the global supply chain industry. Dr. Ishfaq’s academic tenure includes teaching
in the undergraduate, Masters of Science, MBA, and executive MBA programs at Auburn
University, Texas A&M University, and Loyola University Chicago. He is the founding
Faculty Director of SCM Graduate Program(s) at Auburn University that is ranked in
the Top-25 list(s) by U.S. News and by Gartner. Dr. Ishfaq’s international engagements
include research talks and graduate teaching in Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, New
Zealand, Pakistan, Spain and Germany.
In his industry-focused research, Dr. Ishfaq explores operational and service issues
in supply chain management, especially the impact of strategic planning and managerial
decision-making on supply chain performance. His research has addressed these issues
across various industries, including: omnichannel retail, e-commerce, healthcare,
energy, automotive, and information systems.
Dr. Ishfaq's research has received the Association of European Operational Research Societies' "Best EJOR Research Paper Award," and "Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Research Paper" from the International Journal of Logistics Management. His scholarly services are recognized by the Journal of Business Logistics with the "Outstanding Journal Reviewer Award." His research has appeared in Science Direct's "Top-25 Hottest Articles" list and in Wiley's "Top Cited Articles" list over multiple years.
Dr. Ishfaq's reserach has been covered in TV News and podcasts including news articles and interviews on NPR, Bloomberg News, NBC-38, WTVM9-ABC, WSFA-12, Scripps TV News, as well as in print/digital media: VOX, RetailWire, Supply Chain Dive, Retail Touchpoints, Sourcing Journal, AL.com, OANow, DC Velocity, Supply Chain Quarterly, Beyond Auburn, Alabama NewsCenter, and Harbert Magazine.
Auburn University has recognized Dr. Ishfaq's scholarly contributions to the supply chain management discipline by awarding the Reed Family Distinguished Professorship. He has also received "Outstanding Researcher Award," "Recognition in Research Gold Star Award," and "Outstanding Teaching Award" from the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University. Dr. Ishfaq has served on the Harbert College’s strategic planning committee, graduate programs committee, professorship committee and research committee, as well as on Auburn University's core curriculum and education committee, research grants committee, and SACS-COC quality enhancement planning committee.