Dr. Arzum Akkas studies food supply chains. She analyzes the root causes of food waste in supply chains and develops tools to control waste through shelf space management, employee incentives, and inventory management. She collaborates with major retailers, distributors, and manufacturers in the US and in Europe to investigate how to improve operational efficiency, reduce waste, and accomplish sustainability goals. Her research has been published in leading academic journals including Management Science and Production and Operations Management.

Before turning to research, Dr. Akkas worked as an operations manager at Pepsi, a management consultant at the leading strategy and operations firm Archstone Consulting, and a business systems consultant for the supply chain software firm JDA. She has Ph.D. from MIT in Engineering Systems, a Master’s degree from MIT in Supply Chain Management, and a Bachelor’s degree from Istanbul Technical University in Industrial Engineering.