Lecture on supply chain networks in a global economy

Anna Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, will present "Synergies and Vulnerabilities of Supply Chain Networks in a Global Economy: What We Can Learn from Half a Century of Advances in Transportation" Thursday, April 16, at 8 p.m. at St. Olaf College in Regents Hall 390. Nagurney also is director of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks and director of the Supernetworks Laboratory for Computation and Visualization, and she teaches in the Department of Finance and Operations Management in the Isenberg School of Management.

The talk, suitable for a general audience, concerns measuring the health and vulnerabilities of supply chain networks. These transportation networks are used to move both raw materials and finished products, forming the fundamental infrastructure of international trade. Keeping these networks strong and robust is essential to maintaining the reliability and efficiency of modern economies. Nagurney will discuss how to identify vulnerable parts of these transportation networks and how to design fixes to any identified problems.

Professor Nagurney's lecture is funded by the Kleber-Gery Lecture Fund, established by an alumnus of St. Olaf College in honor of professors Emeriti Richard Kleber and Frank Gery. The generosity of this friend of the college allows the Economics and Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science departments to sponsor one or two speakers each year who bring expertise of interest to both departments.