As the 2017 recipient of CSCMP’s Distinguished Service Award (DSA), Nancy Nix becomes only the second woman selected for the award since it was first presented 53 years ago; the first woman to receive the award (in 2012) was AWESOME Founder Ann Drake, CEO of DSC Logistics.
CSCMP’s Distinguished Service Award is supply chain’s most prestigious honor, bestowed upon an individual for significant achievements in the logistics and supply chain management professions. The 2017 DSA Award presentation will take place during the Opening General Session at the CSCMP EDGE Supply Chain Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, September 25, 2017.
Read more about AWESOME events at the conference and AWESOME’s special promotion code for a discounted rate.
An Up-Close Look at the Leadership of Dr. Nancy Nix
By Ann Drake
In recognition and celebration of the selection of our AWESOME Executive Director Nancy Nix as the 2017 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from CSCMP, I’d like to share a few thoughts about Nancy’s career and her leadership. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Nancy and working with her for more than three decades – beginning in the days when sometimes she and I and a few others were the only women in a room filled with supply chain professionals.
It’s impossible in just a few words to describe the contributions Nancy has made to the supply chain field.
Her service has included top leadership positions in the corporate, academic, and industry arms of our profession. In all aspects of her career – she has stepped outside the box of what was expected and constantly explored ways to advance the profession, expand knowledge, and improve the practice. Her long-term impact not only on the lives of thousands of supply chain professionals – but on our industry as a whole – is truly extraordinary.
As a practitioner, she continually expanded her knowledge and expertise across all aspects of the supply chain and developed a truly global perspective in her work for Reliance Industries and DuPont. After earning her doctorate at University of Tennessee, Nancy joined the faculty of TCU’s Neeley School of Business, where she established the Supply and Value Chain Center and academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She also built close working relationships with a broad spectrum of companies and generated funding for the growth and development of TCU’s supply chain program. Today, TCU’s supply chain programs are recognized among the leading programs in the US and TCU graduates are now in leadership positions throughout our industry. She then became Executive Director of the EMBA Program and under her leadership, the program was ranked among the top 25. Nancy was an innovator in developing curriculum to help future supply chain professionals build and strengthen their global skills. Her many contributions to the quality of supply chain education earned Nancy TCU’s Outstanding MBA Faculty and Curriculum Innovation Awards.
Nancy served on the CSCMP Board of Directors for 8 years, as Chair in 2011 and 2012 and, prior to that, as chair of CSCMP’s Research Strategies Committee. With a special focus on expanding supply chain thinking and performance, Nancy has co-authored more than a dozen papers on leading-edge topics related to collaboration, strategic resilience and global integration.
In 2014, I asked Nancy to become the first Executive Director of AWESOME. Postponing plans to spend time traveling and enjoying some freedom from a very demanding career, she accepted – and I was thrilled. If you attended the 2016 Symposium, you may remember we presented Nancy with a set of purple luggage to use on her travels – and truthfully, most of those travels have been for AWESOME.
As Executive Director, Nancy has used her organizational skills and a collaborative approach to build connections and expand the reach of this young organization in ways I could only imagine when I founded it just 5 years ago. By developing partnerships with leading companies and organizing high-impact programming and networking opportunities for senior women leaders in our field, she has played a critical role in advancing women’s leadership in supply chain. With her ability to get results, we sometimes call her “The General” – and we mean that with the greatest respect and affection.
Under Nancy’s leadership, the AWESOME network has grown to more than 1,000 women in senior leadership roles; we’re in the planning stages for our sixth annual Symposium; we’ve presented the AWESOME Legendary Leadership Award to eight outstanding female leaders and provided funding for 17 university scholars to participate in the CSCMP conference and the AWESOME Symposium; powered by AWESOME panels are gaining visibility for women as supply chain experts and thought leaders; we have recently completed the 2nd annual AWESOME/Gartner women in supply chain research; and our publications, website and social media are connecting people to ideas and other leaders in ever-expanding ways.
“Distinguished” means “made conspicuous by excellence” – and without any doubt, the Distinguished Service Award is a well-deserved honor for Nancy.
Read Nancy Nix bio