Contact: Maridith Geuder
Joe H. Sullivan
A Mississippi State professor soon will become editor of a professional journal that is among the most frequently cited sources in the fields of industrial engineering, management science and statistics.
Joe H. Sullivan, a specialist at the university in the area of quantitative analysis, will lead the Journal of Quality Technology for the years 2004-06. He moves up from his current duties as an editorial board review member for the American Society for Quality's official publication.
Formed in 1941, the society now has more than 200,000 members spread among more than 250 volunteer-run local sections in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its quarterly publication emphasizes the practical applicability of new statistical techniques on design of experiments, process monitoring, reliability, and applied statistics.
"Joe has established an enviable track record for research excellence among his peers," said Brian Engelland, head of the College of Business and Industry's department of marketing, quantitative analysis and business law. "His work as a reviewer and prolific author attracted the attention of the journal's management board, and they approached him with this opportunity."
Engelland said Sullivan's selection for the position "places Mississippi State among the elite universities for quality control research."
Sullivan said that JQT articles "generally build from a theoretical base pertaining to automatic control, statistics or economic optimization; present a new methodology; and, typically provide a real world example of applying the proposed new methodology."
Among recent articles illustrating these principles are those about chemical processing, pastry dough preparation and toy manufacturing.
While the journal now is among leaders in the field, Sullivan said his goals are to improve the quality of the peer review process for submitted manuscripts and to decrease review time for publication. "I also want to encourage submission of manuscripts documenting leading edge research work," he added.
He praised the contributions of predecessor Bill Woodall, a former MSU faculty member now teaching at Virginia Tech University. "Bill strengthened the journal and set a lofty standard for editorship," Sullivan said. "My former department head, Ron Taylor, also provided guidance, encouragement and support in my assuming the editorship."
Sullivan holds doctorate degrees in statistics and finance from the University of Alabama, a master's of business administration from Stanford University, a master's in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Texas, and a bachelor's in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama.
He previously worked at Texas Instruments, Bell Laboratories and AT&T, as well as with the strategic management and technology consulting firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton.
For more information about the journal, visit http://www.asq.org/pub/jqt.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, telephone Dr. Sullivan at (662) 325-3163.