Transportation logistics expert Ann M. Drake will discuss “Beyond Transportation Excellence: Lessons from the Pandemic” at the 39th Annual William A. Patterson Distinguished Transportation Lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at Northwestern University. 

Drake, president and founder of Lincoln Road Enterprises, will discuss how the pandemic affected the supply chain that feeds global commerce, what can be learned from this disruption, and how we can better design logistics systems for the future. 

The popular event will begin at 7:30 p.m. at White Auditorium in the Kellogg Global Hub, 2211 Campus Drive, on the Evanston campus. Sponsored by the Northwestern University Transportation Center, the lecture is open to the public, but registration is required.

“The supply chain is how every tangible thing in this world happens,” said Drake, a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management. “And the current crisis is teaching us huge lessons about how interconnected we all are. These are lessons we might have taken a generation or two to learn in simpler times, but instead we’re getting a crash course. The good news is that the people and the capacities to excel in supply chain management already exist if we open ourselves up to new ways of thinking and working together.” 

In 2019, Drake started Lincoln Road Enterprises, a women’s leadership organization, to advance the influence and contributions of women in public and private enterprise, global supply chain, engineering and technology, infrastructure and design, and space and astrophysics. She has been recognized multiple times as one of the country’s leading women executives, honored for her vision and ability to engage others in meaningful dialogue, and collaboration toward positive change. 

Before starting Lincoln Road Enterprises, Drake was chairman and CEO of DSC Logistics, a highly innovative and dynamic leader in supply chain and logistics management, business partner to some of the world’s leading companies and recognized industry-wide for advancing supply chain thinking and practices. Under her guidance, DSC helped transform the business of supply chain management from a commodity service into a critical and creative business strategy based on collaborative partnerships.

We are especially honored to feature Ann Drake for this distinguished lecture given her pioneering role in the supply chain and logistics industry and her contribution to the advancement of women in this traditionally male-dominated industry. Hani Mahmassani Director, Northwestern University
Transportation Center

Drake served for more than two decades on the Northwestern University Transportation Center business advisory council. In 2013, she founded AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education), now the preeminent community for senior women in the supply chain field. Its mission is to advance and transform the future of supply chain leadership.

“We are especially honored to feature Ann Drake for this distinguished lecture given her pioneering role in the supply chain and logistics industry and her contribution to the advancement of women in this traditionally male-dominated industry,” said Hani Mahmassani, director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center. 

The center is one of the world’s leading interdisciplinary education and research institutions, serving industry, government and the public. The Patterson Transportation Lecture features influential leaders from all facets of the transportation industry. It is supported by the Patterson Transportation Endowment, established at Northwestern in 1979 and honoring the late William A. Patterson, founder and CEO of United Airlines.