Improving Access to Social Good in Systems Under Strain

Emily Tucker, PhD

Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering

Faculty Scholar, School of Health Research (CUSHR)

Fellow, Clemson University Institute for Parks (CUIP)

Affiliate, Clemson Operations Research Institute (CORI)

Affiliate, Center for Criminal Justice and Social Research (CJSR)

Clemson University

Dr. Emily Tucker is an industrial engineer (IE) who believes the purpose of IE is to make the world a better place. The key goals of our profession - improving quality, resiliency, and sustainability as well as reducing costs, waste, and time - have at their foundation the view that we can make things better. Systems and processes might currently be broken (or inconvenient or expensive), but she believes IEs should play an active role in improving them. It's no accident that the tagline of one of our major professional organizations, INFORMS, is: the science of better. What a meaningful goal.

As a professor, Dr. Tucker works this out through her 3 main roles: research, teaching, and service.

In her research program, Dr. Tucker leads a team of students (from undergrads to PhD students) to develop operations research models and methods with the goal of improving people's lives. She is known for her work in drug shortages and supply chain resilience.
In her teaching, Dr. Tucker helps to develop the next generation of IEs. She teaches classes ranging from optimization to supply chains and regularly gives guest lectures on advanced topics and her research.
In her service, Dr. Tucker aims to make the field of IE a better place to be. In the Clemson IE department, she serves as Faculty Advisor for the IISE student chapter and a member of the Inclusive Excellence Committee. Her field-wide roles include serving as Vice President of Communications for the INFORMS Section on Public Sector Operations Research (PSOR) and Secretary of the Junior Faculty Interest Group (JFIG).

An overview of her training and awards: Dr. Tucker received her PhD and MSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. She was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and a Rackham Merit Fellowship. Her dissertation work received the Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize for Outstanding PhD Research from the College of Engineering. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a Research Health Economist for RTI Health Solutions and received her BS in Industrial Engineering from NC State. While at NC State, she was supported by the full merit Park Scholarship and awarded the Mathews Medal, the highest non-academic honor given to an undergraduate.