Swartz, Steve
Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing & Logistics
After a brief stint as an apprentice machinist for a small tool-making firm, Dr. Swartz enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1978. Trained as an aircraft mechanic, he served from 1978 to 1986 in a variety of production positions in aircraft maintenance. After completing his Bachelors Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1986, he was commissioned as an officer and continued to serve until 1991 in managerial and leadership positions in aircraft fleet maintenance.
After graduating with a Master of Science degree in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1991, he was selected to start up and lead an internal consulting and training office based on the principles of the Theory of Constraints for the corporate headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command. Over the following three years he developed coursework, conducted training and education, and provided on-site consulting and education services to production managers at depot maintenance facilities throughout the United States.
In 1994 Steve was selected by the Air Force to attend Michigan State University in the doctoral program in Business Administration. His Ph.D. was awarded in May of 1999, with a major area of study in Operations and Sourcing Management, and a minor in Logistics Management. He was assigned to the faculty of the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he served on active duty as an Assistant Professor of Logistics Management until his retirement from the Air Force in 2004. While there, Dr. Swartz served as committee chair for over 30 Master’s Theses and supervised a variety of funded and unfunded research projects, leading to the publication and presentation of numerous research reports and journal articles. He earned various college-level awards for teaching and instructional development. Additionally, he served on and led many institution level committees and projects.
Dr. Swartz is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Logistics Management for the Department of Marketing and Logistics at the University of North Texas. His active research efforts include compressing time-tomarket in supply chains under conditions of uncertainty and risk, the leveraging of information technologies (particularly RFID) to improve customer service and cost, and optimal resource allocation across distributed transportation networks. He is currently researching transportation safety, with a focus on the behavioral and attitudinal factors influencing decision making by professional drivers. His teaching focus is currently on International Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
Steve is an award-winning (National Intercollegiate Flying Association) Commercial Pilot with an Instrument rating. He is also an award-winning (state and national level) nationally ranked marksman and past captain of the Air Force Pistol Team. He is married to the former Leslie Rounds of Bayamon, Puerto Rico and they have three children and two grandchildren.
“Steve brings an almost explosive intellectual energy to the Department. Logical, intuitively sound, ideas and solutions seem flow to endlessly from him.”
David Strutton, Chair of Marketing and Logistics
