“As children of Harold and Mary Anne Nash it has been our pleasure to see all of the great work being done at Georgia Tech in the field of humanitarian logistics,” said Ron Nash. “This important area of study is poised to bring incredible benefits to those people displaced in disasters as we learn how to become far more efficient in getting the right resources to those who need them the most. Dr. Julie Swann has done pioneering work in this area and shows the promise of far more valuable breakthroughs in the future. We are excited to be able to reward her achievement and to support her future research and scholarship by having her named as the Harold R. and Mary Anne Nash Professor at Georgia Tech.”
Julie Swann is an associate professor, and co-director and co-founder of the Health and Humanitarian Logistic Center. Professor Swann, along with the other Center co-directors Özlem Ergun and Pinar Keskinocak, share the goal of positively impacting society through advances in science and technology. They have developed an astute awareness of the issues associated in areas such as health systems, humanitarian response, and education in these fields.
“I am truly honored to have been chosen for this professorship,” said Swann. “I am dedicated to having a societal impact through health and humanitarian research, and I'm delighted to partner with the Nash family in furthering these causes. Their support will help further the role that operations research and industrial engineering can have in improving society.”
Swann originally planned to apply her interest in science toward a medical career until she discovered OR/MS, where she could use her mathematical skills to improve systems or processes. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1996 and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern in 1998 and 2001, respectively.
Dr. Swann focuses on developing models and analytical methods to solve problems in logistics and supply chain management and inform decisions in health systems and policymaking. Dr. Swann’s research areas intersect in her work in humanitarian supply chains. In this area, she is developing educational and outreach programs to governmental and non-governmental organizations that are involved in planning for and responding to short- and long-term humanitarian crises. Recent collaborations have been to improve planning and response to pandemic influenza and to design supply chains and prepositioning of inventory in global humanitarian supply chains. She has worked with numerous organizations including the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Georgia, The Home Depot, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Waffle House, and the World Health Organization. In 2004 she received an NSF CAREER award, and in 2009-2010 she was also on loan as a Senior Science Advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the Preparedness and Modeling Unit and working on the H1N1 response.
The Nash family has a longstanding and deep connection to Georgia Tech, having had three generations educated here and launched into successful careers. All three of the siblings, who followed in their father’s footsteps, have had children of their own graduate from Tech. Deborah’s son, Andrew Willingham, got a master’s in music technology in 2010. Ron’s son, David Nash, received two degrees in 2003, in mechanical engineering and international affairs. Mike is the father of two Tech alums, Jennifer Tench, Arch 02, and Michael Nash Jr., MS OR 05.
The fourth Nash sibling, Mary Alice, continued the family Tech tradition by marrying Arthur Ivey, CE 81, and having a son, Benjamin Ivey, who is a current Tech student majoring in chemical engineering.
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