Joe Thomas

Dean Thomas is the 10th dean of the S. C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He brings more than 30 years of experience as a Cornell University faculty member to his post as dean. Most recently, he was associate dean for academic affairs, responsible for all faculty-related matters at the Johnson School. He has also served as director of the doctoral program, and director of executive education. Dean Thomas is an award-winning teacher, having twice won the Stephen Russell Distinguished Teaching Award. This award is voted upon by members of the five-year reunion class. The award is given to a faculty member whose teaching and example have continued to influence graduates five years into their post-MBA careers.

Dean Thomas' teaching and research focus on topics in operations management and supply-chain management. He has consulted for and led management-education programs for several Fortune-100 companies, including Osram (and Osram-Sylvania), Accenture, and Sanofi-Aventis (Rhone-Poulenc Rorer).

With degrees in Chemical Engineering (BS) and Operations Research (PhD) and a long history of academic scholarship and publishing, Dean Thomas is one the nation's foremost experts in operations management and manufacturing.

His work has been widely published on a variety of topics, including redesign of global manufacturing and supply networks, manufacturing strategy, inventory systems, human resources management, and worker motivation. He has also studied models for managing complex production-distribution systems and their effective implementation.

Dean Thomas has written four books and more than 50 articles in journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Services Operations Management, and Journal of Manufacturing and Operations Management. He was a departmental editor of Management Science for six years and has served on many editorial boards and committees for professional organizations.