ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Tauber Institute for Global Operations, a joint venture between the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering, is pleased to announce Dr. R. Eugene Goodson as the new Executive-in-Residence. A pioneer of plant assessment and lean manufacturing tools, Dr. Goodson served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Williams Controls, a producer of electronic throttle controls and components for the specialty vehicle and truck industries.

"We are delighted to have Dr. Goodson working with the Tauber Institute and believe his many years of industry experience will be a great resource for students as well as our alumni and faculty," said Tauber Institute Managing Director Diana Crossley.

Throughout his 50 year career, Dr. Goodson has held leadership positions at the university level, in government, and industry.  He holds degrees from Duke University and M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.  As a Purdue Professor from 1963 to1981, he published over 30 referred journal papers and consulted in the aerospace, process, and transportation industries. He was U.S. DOT Chief Scientist from 1973 through 1975 and led Purdue’s interdisciplinary institute to national prominence. From 1977 through 1980, he led the Opportunity Risk Assessment for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles for the Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute.

Moving to industry in 1981, Dr. Goodson led Johnson Control’s automotive seating business from a $150 million supplier to a $1.3 billion tier one systems supplier. He headed up Oshkosh Truck Corporation from 1990-1997, when his team took Oshkosh from a defense contractor to market dominance through internal growth and acquisitions.

Dr. Goodson returned to a university environment in 1998 as Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan Business School teaching operations management.  His Rapid Plant Assessment (RPA) lean tool, described in the paper “Read a Plant; Fast”, published in the Harvard Business Review, is used by many companies in their lean transformation journey.  He continues an active consulting practice on lean transformation and business development.

In 1998, he was retained by American Industrial Partners and became Chairman, CEO, & President of Williams Controls and continued as Chairman until 2012. He was also Executive Chairman of CIS Corporation, a computer components supplier, from 1999 through 2005.

In 2006, Dr. Goodson accepted the position of CEO, President, and Board Chairman of Southwall Technologies Corporation in Palo Alto, CA.  Southwall made sputtered film that controls energy and light transmission.  He remained a board member and consultant until the company’s sale to Solutia in 2011.  He also is on the boards of Defiance Metal Products, Allied Specialty Vehicles (ASV), and Bergstrom, Inc., Manac, and Powis.

About Tauber Institute for Global Operations

The Tauber Institute for Global Operations is a joint venture between the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering, and many industry partners to facilitate cross-disciplinary education in global operations management. In addition to broad array of core and elective courses, the innovative LeadershipAdvantage^SM Program provides students with the tools to ascend to major operations leadership roles. Well-designed and managed team projects form the cornerstone of the Tauber Institute experience and allow students to apply their knowledge to real world settings. The Tauber Institute is an inaugural recipient of the UPS George D. Smith Prize for effective and innovative preparation of students to be good practitioners of operations research, management science, or analytics. http://www.tauber.umich.edu

Contact:
Theresa Ceccarelli 734-647-0308 [email protected]