Bio

Donald Ratliff is a Regents' Professor Emeritus in Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech and Co-Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Panama Logistics Innovation & Research Center.

Dr. Ratliff's research and logistics competencies include intermodal network design, supply chain integration, delivery strategies, cross docking, vender managed resupply, real-time routing, shipment planning, logistics performance measurement, and container port operations.

During the past 20 years, Dr. Ratliff has supervised one of the largest logistics research programs in the world. Concepts developed by him and his colleagues have been implemented in decision support systems for logistics network design, shipment planning, production scheduling, and vehicle routing. He is widely published and has given more than 150 invited logistics presentations. Dr. Ratliff also has extensive logistics consulting experience and was a co-founder of CAPS Logistics, a company specializing in flexible logistics software. 

Dr. Ratliff currently serves as the chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on the Future of Logistics & Supply Chains. Dr. Ratliff was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1996 and is a fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. He received IIE's 1991 "Outstanding Research Award" for his work in logistics. 

Dr. Ratliff received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Alabama. In 1970 he received a Ph.D. in operations research from Johns Hopkins University and in 1978 he joined the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering faculty at Georgia Tech.