Harbert professors among Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers for 2025

Two Harbert College of Business researchers have been named to the 2025 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list, which recognizes scientists and social scientists who demonstrate significant influence in their fields through frequently cited published papers during the past 11 years.

The researchers are Jennifer Blackhurst, McWane Chair in Supply Chain Management, who joined the Harbert faculty from the University of Iowa in August, and Dave Ketchen, Harbert Eminent Scholar of Management.

Blackhurst's research broadly examines supply chain management risk and how to handle supply chain disruptions, which in recent years have included the pandemic shutdowns, labor strikes, and tariffs, as well as other less-publicized events. 

In one recent study that she conducted while at the University of Iowa, Blackhurst and her colleagues developed a model that simulates supply chain behavior over time considering varying disruption scenarios. Her findings showed that fostering modularity and leveraging real-time information enhances system resilience.

This influential paper won the Journal of Operations Management 2024 Ambassador Award.

Earlier in her career, Blackhurst and colleagues were the first to determine how and why one supply chain disruption would be more severe than another—providing valuable insight for companies trying to mitigate the financial risks associated with disruptions. Their groundbreaking paper was recognized for its proven impact from more than 15,000 other papers published in leading business publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing and Journal of Finance.

In all, Blackhurst’s research has been cited more than 14,000 times, according to Google Scholar.

Ketchen is best known for his insightful contributions to the fields of strategic management, entrepreneurship and supply chain management. He has published more than 200 research articles, and his work has been referenced by his peers more than 72,000 times during his career, according to Google Scholar.  

A 2023 paper that he co-wrote with Harbert management colleague Jessica Darby and others on CEO stock ownership and medical device recalls was featured in the Wall Street Journal. Ketchen and colleagues found that the more shares a CEO owns in the company, the slower the recall will be for faulty devices.

Among his other accolades, Ketchen is a Fellow of the Academy of Management—only the second Auburn professor to earn this distinction and the first since 1979. Last year, research.com ranked him 21st in the United States and 36th in the world among the Top 1,000 business and management scientists.

A third Auburn University professor—Shiwen Mao, Williams Eminent Scholar of Electrical and Computer Engineering—also made the 2025 Clarivate list.

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Learn more about Harbert College of Business's overall research enterprise