Gurram Gopal

Education

Ph.D., Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences, Northwestern University
M.S., Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences, Northwestern University
B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology (India)

Research Interests

Prior to becoming the Interim Chair and Professor of ITM, Gurram Gopal taught several courses in data analytics, e-commerce and supply chain optimization at IIT. Prior to joining IIT he was a Theophil W. Mueller Endowed Chair and Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Business at Elmhurst University, and served as the University's Fulbright Program Adviser.

Gopal’s professional career includes development of technology driven marketing strategies for some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies as a strategy consultant and manager for ZS Associates. He also worked in strategic marketing, supply chain management, and strategic quality at Tellabs, Inc. He holds professional certificates in ISO, CMM and Applied Statistics and Forecasting, and has published extensively in academic and professional journals. Gopal has traveled extensively to present in conferences on global sourcing, supply chain, data synchronization, and customer relationship management in the logistics industry. In 2014 and 2015, Gopal presented at the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) conference, sponsored by the UN Global Compact in New Delhi, India. He has received many teaching awards and grants for his academic work and professional projects. In 2011-12, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach and conduct research at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland. In 2022 he received another Fulbright Scholar Award to develop new courses at ISM University in Lithuania and also develop University associated entrepreneurial efforts. In December 2023 he visited Bolivia as a Fulbright Specialist at the Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB)  and conducted seminars on digital transformation of the economy and also worked with local entrepreneurs. He is currently developing academic exchanges between IIT and UPB.  Gopal has also led several student groups on trips to India, Ireland and Turkey. 

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)

Production and Operations Management Society

Institute for Supply Chain Management

V.P., Education, Chicago Roundtable of the Council of Logistics Management (02-03)

ISO Advanced Auditor

Applied Statistical Forecasting by BFS

Awards

Illinois Institute of Technology, School of Applied Technology, Excellence in Teaching Award (2017)

ISM University of Management and Economics Lithuania, Distinguished Visiting Professor Award (2017)

Elmhurst University, Sigma Kappa Faculty Appreciation Award (2006)

Howard Willett Jr. Distinguished Chair for Research in Business and Economics (2005-08)

Walter P. Murphy Fellowship, Northwestern University (1983)

Publications

Gopal has published numerous articles and case studies on global sourcing, data synchronization, and customer relationship management in the logistics industry in journals such as Supply Chain Management Review, the International Journal of Supply Chain Management, and Annual Advances in Business Cases. Following are articles published by Gopal in collaboration with several students at Illinois Institute of Technology:

• Gopal, G., Olsen, K., and Quilez Calleja, A., "Inventory Stratification Optimizes Results." APICS Spring 2018 quarterly magazine
• Gopal, G. and Miguel, A. "Tackling the difficult last mile." Industrial and Systems Engineering. December 2017, Vol. 49, No. 12.
• Gopal, G. “Pricing carbon dioxide into your supply chain.” Industrial Management. July/August 2017.
• Gopal, G., and Sanchez, A. (2017). "The Power of Energy Efficiency Certifications." Facilities Management Journal. May/June 2017.

Professional Activities

Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD), Baltimore, MD 2017, “A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Approach to Scaling up Healthcare for Chagas Disease.”

Supply Chain Innovation Summit, Chicago, IL 2017, “Exciting Developments in Supply Chain: From Performance Optimization Analytics to Blockchain Experiments.”

Additional Info

Experience