Karen Smilowitz

Karen Smilowitz is the James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a Professor of Operations at the Kellogg School of Management. Her research focuses on optimizing logistics systems, including nonprofit operations, humanitarian logistics, and transportation networks, with a strong emphasis on equity and efficiency. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and has advised numerous graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in these fields.

• Education:
  • B.S.E. in Civil Engineering and Operations Research from Princeton University (1995)
  • M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley (1998, 2001)
• Research Interests: Nonprofit operations, transportation systems, humanitarian logistics, and equity in logistics design. She explores how operational flexibility enhances system efficiency while addressing challenges in complex networks.
• Grants & Awards: Notable contributions include work on vaccine distribution, disaster relief routing, and volunteer management. Her research often bridges academic rigor with real-world applications, such as optimizing school bus scheduling and improving healthcare access.
• Advising: Supervised over 20 graduate students and post-docs, many of whom have won awards for their work in humanitarian logistics and health systems.
• Lab & Collaborations: Leads interdisciplinary projects on school district design, illicit pharmaceutical tracking, and community healthcare networks. Collaborates with organizations like Lurie Children's Hospital and the Culverhouse College of Business.