IIM Ahmedabad Professor Wins Prestigious POMS Wickham Skinner Teaching Innovation Award

Ahmedabad: Professor Debjit Roy of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has earned global recognition after receiving the coveted Wickham Skinner Teaching Innovation Award from the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS). Considered one of the highest international honors in the field of production and operations management, this award celebrates excellence and groundbreaking innovation in teaching and Prof. Roy's selection places him among some of the most distinguished academic minds in the world.

The recognition is being widely viewed as a landmark achievement not just for Prof. Roy personally, but for Indian academia as a whole. Experts across industry and academia say the honor brings renewed attention to India's rapidly evolving logistics, transportation, and supply chain ecosystem, and is expected to catalyze greater research-driven policy thinking, deeper industry-academia collaboration, and a stronger culture of academic innovation in logistics and transport management across the country.

Speaking after receiving the award, Prof. Roy expressed heartfelt gratitude to his students, colleagues, and the various academic institutions he has been associated with across India, the Netherlands, and the United States. He emphasized that impactful teaching and meaningful research are not separate pursuits they must go hand in hand. Over a distinguished academic career spanning 14 years, Prof. Roy has taught more than 15,000 students, and he acknowledged that these diverse classroom interactions across continents have continuously refined and shaped his teaching philosophy, methodologies, and approach to pedagogy.

At IIM Ahmedabad, Prof. Roy holds the role of Founding Co-Chair of the Centre for Transportation and Logistics a pioneering initiative designed to advance cutting-edge research, executive education programs, and meaningful industry engagement in areas including transportation, warehousing, freight systems, supply chain optimization, and logistics infrastructure development in India. The Centre has emerged as a vital platform for bridging the worlds of academic inquiry and operational practice in one of the world's fastest-growing logistics markets.

Widely acknowledged as one of India's foremost scholars in the domains of operations management, logistics, and transportation systems, Prof.

Roy has built an expansive and influential body of work. His contributions span global research in freight transportation, warehouse automation, container terminal operations, supply chain optimization, fleet management, inland logistics infrastructure, and sustainable transport systems. His published research, academic papers, and industry-oriented case studies have consistently helped narrow the gap between theoretical models and the real-world challenges faced by logistics and supply chain practitioners.

Industry leaders and policy observers believe that this international accolade will serve as a powerful catalyst, inspiring greater academic investment in logistics and transport research in India at a particularly critical time. The country is currently making aggressive, large-scale investments in multimodal infrastructure development, port-led economic growth, dedicated freight corridors, warehousing modernization, and integrated supply chain ecosystems all anchored by landmark national programs such as PM Gati Shakti and the National Logistics Policy. Prof. Roy's recognition is seen as timely validation of India's growing intellectual and institutional capacity to lead in these areas.

Prof. Roy also noted with pride that the award places him within an elite global cohort of academic luminaries who have previously been honored with the same distinction. Past recipients include internationally celebrated scholars such as Hau Lee, Luk van Wassenhove, Sunil Kumar, Mike Gorman, Christian Terwiesch, and Robert Klassen names synonymous with world-class contributions to operations and supply chain management.

He further extended his appreciation to the many academicians and industry practitioners from around the world whose encouragement and support made this recognition possible, and offered special thanks to the award committee chaired by Bala Shetty for their thoughtful evaluation and selection process.

For IIM Ahmedabad, this honor represents yet another proud milestone further cementing the institution's reputation as a center of global excellence and reinforcing India's growing stature as an emerging international hub for research, innovation, and thought leadership in logistics, transportation, and supply chain management. As the country positions itself as a key player in global value chains, recognitions like these signal that Indian academia is not just keeping pace with the world — it is helping to lead it.