Alumnus Sunil Kumar to speak at Engineering Commencement

Engineering at Illinois alumnus Sunil Kumar, dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Operations Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will be the featured speaker for the College of Engineering commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 18. Two separate Engineering ceremonies—4:30-6:15 p.m. and 7:15-9:00 p.m.—will be held in Huff Hall.

He co-developed Littlefield Technologies, a factory simulator that has been used for teaching operations management at more than 50 business and engineering schools. He has published dozens of scholarly research articles and has served as the editor of the Stochastic Models section of the journal Operations Research.

Kumar spent 14 years on the faculty of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where he was the Fred H. Merrill Professor of Operations, Information and Technology. He also served as senior associate dean for academic affairs, overseeing the school’s M.B.A. program and leading faculty groups in marketing and organizational behavior.

On January 1, 2011, he joined Chicago Booth as dean and Professor of Operations Management where he has concentrated on broadening and strengthening the intellectual footprint of the school, including expanding the faculty, supporting increasingly diverse student aspirations, and expanding the reach of the school’s programs.

Born in India, Kumar received a master of engineering degree in computer science and automation from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and a bachelor of engineering degree from Mangalore University in Surathkal.

Editor's note: Sunil Kumar's career was highlighted in a 2011 feature story produced for the Coordinated Science Laboratory at Illinois.