Bio

Can Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Operations Management area at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. His research centers around socially responsible and sustainable operations, with an emphasis on traditionally underserved populations. More specifically, his work spans three interrelated areas: 1) not-for-profit operations, 2) healthcare supply chains, and 3) smallholder agricultural supply chains. An overarching theme of his research is to study how organizations in these sectors can better support underserved communities and generate societal benefits through effective design of operational policies and interventions. In his research, he works closely with industry collaborators to motivate research questions from real-world challenges and data. He also aims to deliver implementable solutions and actionable insights to make a practical impact.

His work has received multiple recognitions, including the winner for the 2021 MSOM Best Paper Award, the 2019 MSOM Award for Responsible Research in OM, the 2017 MSOM Practice-Based Competition, the 2017 MSOM Student Paper Competition, the 2017 INFORMS Doing Good with Good OR Student Paper Competition, an honorable mention for the 2019 INFORMS George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award, and a finalist for the 2022 Public Sector Operations Research Best Paper Award, the 2017 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award, and the 2015 INFORMS George Nicholson Student Paper Competition.