PhD in Business Administration with a Specialization in Operations

Distinguish your education

with a doctorate in Operations from the Leeds School of Business.

Meet Current Students Explore FAQs

PhdD students

The Operations Management PhD program prepares you to pursue an academic career as a researcher and educator. Faculty research interests range from quantitative modeling to empirical studies using tools from operations research, mathematical programming, artificial intelligence, econometrics and economics. Topics include pricing and revenue management, supply chain management, logistics, healthcare and so on.

The smaller size of the program affords each student extensive interaction with faculty members. It also allows the program to be tailored to each student’s interests.

Additional information about our faculty can be found here

General details about the curriculum, requirements, and structure of the program can be found here. Please be aware this document is not an exhaustive list of the requirements for the Program.

Program Faculty

Our renowned, award-winning Operations faculty are published experts on topics like:

  • Operations Research

  • Mathematical Programming

  • Artificial Intelligence

  • Econometrics and Economics

  • Pricing and Revenue Management

  • Supply Chain Management

  • Sustainable Operations

  • Humanitarian Operations

David Drake

Chair of the Social Responsibility & Sustainability Division • Associate Professor

Chuan He

Professor

Manuel Laguna

Media One Professor of Management and Science

Sentao Miao

Assistant Professor

Gloria Urrea

Assistant Professor

Thomas Vossen

Associate Professor • Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Operations PhD Program Director

Övünç Yılmaz

Assistant Professor

Dan Zhang

Associate Dean for Research and Academics • Professor

Huanan Zhang

Assistant Professor

Rui Zhang

Assistant Professor

Learn more about

Program Graduates

The PhD program prepares students to be researchers and teachers at major universities. See where our graduates started their careers and published research.

Placements

 

  • Hasti Rahemi
    PhD: 2023
    Placement: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
    Dissertation: To Look Good or to Do Good: Three Essays in Nonprofit and Humanitarian Operations
     
  • Fan You
    PhD: 2022
    Placement: Uber Technologies
    Dissertation: Essays on Approximate Dynamic Programming, Customer Choice Modeling and Assortment Optimization in Online Marketplaces
     
  • Jose Ramirez
    PhD: 2015
    Placement: United States Military Academy at West Point
    Dissertation: Essays on Military and Civilian Manpower Planning
     
  • Mark Zais
    PhD: 2014
    Placement: Office of the Secretary of Defense
    Dissertation: Simulation-Optimization, Markov Chain and Graph Coloring Approaches to Military Manpower Modeling and Deployment Sourcing
     
  • Subhamoy Ganguly
    PhD: 2013
    Placement: Indian Institute of Management – Udaipur
    Dissertation: Essays in Scheduling: Applications in Health Care and Manufacturing
     
  • Michele Samorani
    PhD: 2012
    Placement: University of Alberta, Canada
    Dissertation: Data Mining For Enhanced Operations Management Decision Making: Applications in Health Care
     
  • Harald Reinertsen
    PhD: 2010
    Placement: Smith Stål Øst AS, Norway
    Dissertation: Optimization of the Industrial Cutting Stock Problems – Production Scheduling in a Dynamic Stochastic Environment
     
  • Marco Better
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: OptTek Systems, Inc.
    Dissertation: Data Mining Techniques for Prediction in Discrete Data Applications
     
  • Fang Liang
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: PROS Pricing Solutions
    Dissertation: The Hyperplan-Based Classification Techniques
     
  • Rahul Patil
    PhD: 2006
    Placement: Indian Institute of Management
     
  • Linda LaGanga
    PhD: 2006
    Placement: Mental Health Center of Denver
     
  • Gyungwon Jung
    PhD: 2003
    Placement: Korean Army

The PhD program prepares students to be researchers and teachers at major universities. Learn more about these talented scholars and their research areas of interest.