Center Spotlight: Dr. Evelyn Thomchick, Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems

In this interview with Dr. Evelyn Thomchick, retired professor of supply chain & information systems at Penn State University, Professor Thomchick shares her experiences integrating sustainability into supply chain education, connection to the Center, and 42 year career in higher education.

How did you become interested in sustainability, and how did you explore that at Penn State?

The concepts of sustainability have always been part of my own values. I was able [to] formalize this when I was teaching the undergraduate procurement courses in the Supply Chain & Information Systems (SC&IS) Department. I would do class projects for our corporate sponsors of our Center for Supply Chain Research. In the early 2000s, many of the projects in procurement involved sustainability. Around the same time period, I became involved in sponsored research with researchers in agricultural science and forestry. The research projects were aimed at developing bioproducts from biomass to replace similar products developed from fossil fuels.

How did you integrate sustainability into the courses you taught?

One way was, as I described in Question 1, by doing sustainability related projects for CSCR corporate sponsors in my undergraduate procurement courses. In 2019, I was asked to develop a course in Sustainable Supply Chain Management for the online graduate certificate in sustainability in Smeal. I co-developed SCM 813 with Dr. Kusumal Ruamsook for the Center for the Business of Sustainability.

What was your experience teaching at Smeal?

Before my retirement in December 2024, I taught logistics and suppy chain management courses for 42 years. I taught a variety of courses in the logistics area of supply chain management, from warehousing to transportation to procurement. In the early 2000s, I began teaching in our online graduate program in supply chain management. Demand for the program grew, and I began teaching in the online program full-time.

How did you connect with the Center for the Business of Sustainability?

My original connection was through the sponsored research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, working with researchers in agriculture and forestry. CoBS was one of the internal supporters and I became a faculty affiliate.

What companies and/or organizations are, in your opinion, succeeding in sustainability or ethical behavior, and why?

Corporate Knights is an organization that ranks companies on a global basis on their sustainability. The rankings and the methodology they use are available on their website. It’s interesting to see the mix of industries that are on the list, including energy companies and heavy manufacturing companies. Exxon-Mobil was a company for which my classes did sustainability studies. This may seem ironic since EM is often targeted for being a fossil fuels company. Yet they were very interested in integrating sustainability into their business processes over twenty years ago.

What advice do you have for current Smeal students interested in sustainability and/or ethics?

Sustainability is often interpreted as environmental sustainability—reducing pollution, eliminating waste, renewable energy, etc. However, social sustainability is important, too. The sustainability model includes people, as well as planet and profit. In evaluating organizations on their sustainability metrics, look for social sustainable practices as well. Beware of companies that “greenwash.” That is, they make the easy, superficial adjustments to appear sustainable. True commitment to sustainability involves incorporation into business processes.

Thank you to Evelyn Thomchick for sharing your experiences with us.