ISyE Welcomes New Advisory Board Members

The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) is proud to welcome 15 new members to its Advisory Board who are serving a four-year term: Jeff Anderson, Sheereen Brown, Joe Depa, Jason Dorris, Ciera Gillis, John Hanson, Peyton Johnston, Jason E. Linscott, Sam Millson, Fay Cobb Payton, Bob Robertson, Matlock Rogers, Kofi Smith, Johnna M. Stueck, and Kyle Zeman. This group was selected over the past three years.

Introduced in 2023, ISyE created additional Advisory Board seats for one student leader and two recent graduates to share insights about the needs of current students and newer alumni with board members. Currently, student Sujan Ganesh Kumar is serving a one-year term, and alumni Carson Earnest (Delta Airlines) and Arjun Patra (JP Morgan Chase) are serving a two-year term in these roles. 

“We are excited to welcome these new members with their unique expertise in industry and academia — from AI to supply chain management,” said Pinar Keskinocak, H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair and professor in ISyE. “Their collective experience will help the school refine strategies, enhance educational initia­tives, and expand global partnerships.” 

The new Advisory Board members, along with the existing members, give valued support, advice, and guidance on the strategic priorities and development goals of ISyE. 

“Moreover, we’d like to thank Mitali Bidkar, Catherine Cooper, Eleana Padilla Acosta, and Esha Patra who recently completed their board service,” added Keskinocak. 

Under Cooper’s leadership, Advisory Board Task Forces — originally focusing on Student Engagement, Development, Diversity, and Travel — were established in 2023 to align board members’ expertise with the needs of ISyE.

In 2025, after collecting feedback on the impact of the initial Task Forces, the Advisory Board, led by Chair Evren Ozkaya and Vice Chair Anderson, and ISyE leaders restructured the Task Forces to amplify board initiatives in the following high-impact areas: 

• Alumni/ISyE Engagement
• Education Strategic Initiatives
• Industry Engagement and Partnerships
• Communications and Branding

“The Task Forces are designed to be flexible and adaptable to serve ISyE’s strategic, long-term goals,” explained Ozkaya, founder and CEO of Supply Chain Wizard. “This restructuring will leverage the knowledge of alumni to enhance student development, enrich curriculum to prepare students for the careers of tomorrow, build relation­ships with key corporate and research partners, and increase reputational awareness among external audiences.”