Irem Sengul Orgut
Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management
Dr. Irem Sengul Orgut is an Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago. Her research addresses complex, uncertain, and multi-objective problems in humanitarian and healthcare operations, with a focus on food bank operations. She uses modeling, optimization, and data-driven approaches to create practical and interpretable solutions for government, policymakers, and nonprofits. Her work on food bank operations is recognized as one of the pioneering works in this rapidly growing field. For more information, go to https://iremsengul.wordpress.com/.
Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Assistant Director at the Institute of Data and Analytics at the University of Alabama. She also spent four years as an Analytics Project Manager at Lenovo in Morrisville, NC. She earned her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Statistics from North Carolina State University in 2015 and dual B.S. degrees in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering from Bogazici University, Turkey, in 2010.
Dr. Sengul Orgut’s research has been published in leading journals such as the Production and Operations Management Journal, European Journal of Operational Research, Omega, IISE Transactions, and INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, and has been supported by the National Science Foundation. She serves as a Vice President of Meetings for the INFORMS Women in OR/MS (WORMS) forum and is a member of the editorial review board for the Decision Sciences Journal.
Education
- PhD, Industrial Engineering, North Carolina State University
- BS, Industrial Engineering, Bogazici University
- BS, Mechanical Engineering, Bogazici University
Research Interests
- Humanitarian and Nonprofit Operations
- Food Bank Operations
- Optimization
- Data Analytics
- Decision-Making under Uncertainty
Professional Employment
- Assistant Professor, Culverhouse College of Business, The University of Alabama, 2019-2025
- Assistant Director, Institute of Data and Analytics, The University of Alabama, 2020-2025
Professional/Community Affiliations
- Senior Member, INFORMS, 2025-present
- Member, INFORMS, 2011-present
- Member, POMS, 2020-present
- Vice President of Meetings, INFORMS Women in OR/MS (WORMS) Forum, 2025-present
- Secretary, INFORMS WORMS Forum, 2024.
Courses Taught
- SCMG 232: Introduction to Supply Chain Management
Publications/Research Listings
'Sengul Orgut, I., and Lodree, E. (2023). Equitable distribution of perishable food items in a food bank supply chain. Production and Operations Management, 32(10), 3002‑3021. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.14019
Sengul Orgut, I., Ivy, J. S., Uzsoy, R., and Wilson, J. R. (2016). Modeling for the equitable and effective distribution of donated food under capacity constraints. IISE Transactions, 48(3), 252‑266. https://doi.org/10.1080/0740817X.2015.1063792
Hasnain, T., Sengul Orgut, I., and Ivy, J. S. (2021). Elicitation of Preference among Multiple Criteria in Food Distribution by Food Banks. Production and Operations Management, 30(12), 4475‑4500. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13551
Sengul Orgut, I., Ivy, J. S., Uzsoy, R., and Hale, C. (2018). Robust optimization approaches for the equitable and effective distribution of donated food. European Journal of Operational Research, 269(2), 516‑531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2018.02.017
Sengul Orgut, I., Falciglia, G. H., and Smilowitz, K. (2025). Optimal policies for nutrition administration to very low birth weight infants. Decision Sciences, 56(3), 316-334. https://doi.org/10.1111/deci.12629
Awards
- Excellence in Community‑Engaged Scholarship Award for Civic Engagement, The University of Alabama, 2024.
- Best Paper Award, Omega Journal, 2023.
- Finalist, INFORMS Innovative Applications in Analytics Award, 2022.
- Certificate of Excellence in Teaching, North Carolina State University, 2014.
- First Place in Poster Competition, INFORMS Annual Meeting, 2012.