Who’s Who at VCU Business: Jason Merrick
By Megan Nash
It wasn’t the yacht race Jason Merrick, Ph.D. had in mind, but when this Oxford grad crossed the pond to the U.S., he turned his focus to solving major supply chain puzzles and advising NFL draft picks. At VCU’s School of Business, his hands-on teaching style has made him a standout, prepping students for real-world challenges in ways that textbooks never could.
Where can we find you on the VCU map?
You can find me at the VCU School of Business (Snead Hall) on the fourth floor in Room B4141.
Can you share a bit about your educational journey? Where did you go to school, and what was your major?
I graduated from Oxford University in 1993 with a B.A. in Mathematics and Computation and earned a D.Sc. in Operations Research from George Washington University in 1998.
What inspired you to pursue a career in your field, and how has your journey evolved over the years?
During a tutorial at Oxford, Dr. Dan Lunn asked me if I fancied going to the States. I had always wanted to visit, but as Dan had a yacht, I thought he wanted crew for a race. It turns out that his friend at the George Washington University had funding for a doctoral student in something called Operations Research. I didn’t know what that was, but it turned out to use mathematics and computational techniques to solve complex decision problems. It sounded like fun.
My parents took me to the airport the first time I came to the U.S. My mum told me she had one rule: I was not allowed to date any Americans. Unfortunately, after a year, I met my now-wife. She is American, and my mum is really annoyed that she likes her. My wife lived in Richmond, so after graduating with my Ph.D., I applied to some place called Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). I have been here ever since.
I started my career at VCU in a department called Mathematical Sciences. After three years, that department was broken up, and I became a member of the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research (sounds like fun, doesn’t it?). I ran the master’s in operations research, started the Ph.D. in Systems Modeling and Analysis and helped start the bachelor’s and master’s in Homeland Security. In 2015, I started splitting my time with the School of Business to help start a new master’s in Decision Analytics, and I moved to the Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics full-time in 2017.
Could you describe your current research or projects? What excites you most about them?
I am working with Cummins to help them understand their issues with completing customer orders for customized engines on time. They are holding too much parts inventory, but they are still unable to ensure they have the parts for a specific order. I am also helping Shaw, the flooring company, on a very similar project. The research team and I build simulation models of the end-to-end supply chain, including all the planning decisions they make, and test alternative strategies that could improve their performance and reduce costs.
I am also working with an NFL team on analytics that help them choose which players to draft.
Are there any key accomplishments or milestones in your academic career that you’re particularly proud of?
In 2014, I won the INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of Operations Research and Management Science (OR/MS) Practice. This award recognizes a teacher who has succeeded in helping students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective practitioners of analytics. An “effective practitioner” has respect for, understanding of and the skills to surmount both the practical difficulties and technical challenges of doing good analytics work.
The citation for the award read:
“Dr. Jason Merrick has influenced hundreds of students at Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as practitioners at Capital One, Infineon Semiconductors, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Deloitte Consulting through his corporate training; public safety officials through VCU’s Public Safety Institute; and students at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Dr. Merrick’s students have applied what they have learned to make significant operational improvements in a wide variety of applications, including building urban high schools, improving rehabilitation and treatment in a city jail, reducing risk and credit losses in a bank, conveying military missiles and guiding efforts to improve the quality of an endangered watershed. Past students credit their success to Dr. Merrick’s ability to make every OR/MS technique relevant to business. Dr. Merrick’s teaching philosophy is to ‘coach,’ not to lecture, and nearly all of his courses involve course projects designed to enable students to apply operations research methodologies to real-world problems. Dr. Merrick truly excels at working with students who are practitioners or inspiring students to become OR/MS practitioners.”
In my acceptance speech, I thanked the award committee for recognizing the amazing work that VCU students have done in industry and government and that I was glad to have had a small part in their success. I accepted the award on behalf of our students. I am very proud of our students.
Can you share a memorable experience from your teaching career that had a significant impact on your approach to education?
My education was focused on theory and conceptual understanding, but during my doctoral studies, I found that I truly enjoyed doing real-world projects and having an impact. When I started teaching, I defaulted to the theoretical content that I had learned, but VCU students focused their questions on how to use the methods I taught in their careers. My interests and VCU students’ needs aligned. I switched my classroom focus to real-world projects and coaching students how to successfully implement the techniques in each course. This means I truly enjoy teaching every course, and the students come back after graduation to share the amazing things they’ve done in their careers.
If you could time-travel to any historical period for a day, which era would you choose and why?
I have always been fascinated by Roman and Greek history. I think it would be fascinating to visit this period in history. I would need a translator, though; I only took two years of Latin and don’t remember any. However, as this probably won’t happen, I will continue to watch Doctor Who!
It would also be fascinating to meet an itinerant Jewish preacher names Yeshua. He lived just over 2,000 years ago and taught in the area around Galilee. Nowadays, people refer to him by the Latin translation of his name: he is called Jesus.
If your research could be explained through a piece of art, what would that artwork look like?
I have built simulation models of ports and waterways in several West Coast areas. These models show the nautical chart with boats moving through the system, along with representations of wind, current, etc. They are rather captivating to watch, so this is my form of art.
I did get an A in my art O-level (national exams you took at 16 in England back then). Teachers had suggested that I not take art because I was so bad, but it turned out that I got the highest grade in the South of England for my still-life piece. It was the only good piece of art I ever created, and I decided to quit while I was ahead.
What’s the most unexpected or unconventional place where you’ve found inspiration for your academic work?
Lipstick. After doing research in oil spill risk and counter-terrorism for years, my first supply chain project was helping P&G improve their new product launches for lipstick brands. So, I am now an expert in lipstick, and I have continued to work with supply chain companies and publish that work for the last decade.
Categories News