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Gatton Team Tops National Powers in Supply Chain Competition

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 8, 2009) – More national competition success for University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics students. The latest example came at the first-ever undergraduate supply chain competition hosted by Michigan State University's Eli Broad College of Business. Taking on students from 12 other universities across the country, Gatton's two- person team of Matthew Choyce, a senior management major from Atlanta, Ga., and Ryan Hayes, a senior from Frankfort majoring in decision science and information systems, captured first place in the MSU Undergraduate Supply Chain Challenge, which involved managing a complex global supply chain through 13 simulated weeks of decisions. Teams were measured on total revenue, order fulfillment, inventory turns, and a profit figure the Broad School calls 'supply chain contribution.' This first-place finish comes just a few months after a three-person team from Gatton, including Hayes, placed fourth nationally as a team in a Wall Street Journal- sponsored business quiz competition held at Ohio State's Fisher College of Business. UK sophomore Jeffrey Howard of Louisville, a Gatton Global Scholar majoring in accounting and minoring in international business, won the individual title at that event, beating out 71 students from 23 other schools, including Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Emory, Michigan, North Carolina and Notre Dame. In the supply chain competition at Michigan State, Choyce and Hayes bested teams from such notable universities as Penn State, which was ranked No. 1 in Supply

An Equal Opportunity University Chain Management Review; host MSU, which was ranked No. 2; third-ranked Ohio State; and fifth-ranked Maryland, as well as nine other schools. "Matthew and Ryan did a tremendous job and earned this victory," said Thomas J. Goldsby, associate professor of supply chain management in the Gatton College and faculty adviser to the UK team. "This was a wonderful experience for them. The scoring employed an objective, points-based system, utilizing SCODE (Supply Chain Operations Decision Environment), which eliminated subjectivity from the judging process. "Not only did they compete well, Matthew and Ryan represented UK and the Gatton College admirably throughout the event," added Goldsby. Choyce said he really enjoyed the event. "It was a great feeling to represent UK and earn a first-place finish while competing against other highly regarded business programs." Hayes echoed Choyce's sentiments and added, "We are grateful to Professor Goldsby and our other faculty, along with the staff and administration of the Gatton College for providing us with these sorts of opportunities to measure ourselves against our peers from across the country. It's good to know that we can go up against the best in the nation and come out on top." Sponsorship from corporations including Dow Chemical, Shell, Chrysler, General Motors, Motorola, IBM, and Flextronics enabled the student teams to take part in the challenge at minimal cost to the universities involved. ### We "see blue" at the University of Kentucky. We're home not only to powerhouse basketball and the best of intercollegiate athletics; we're also nationally ranked in more than 70 academic programs. We're charting an aggressive, exciting path toward becoming a Top 20 public research institution. “see blue.” is a lot of things, but most of all it's about helping students realize their potential and harness the power of their dreams. For more about UK’s efforts to become a Top 20 university and how we "see blue," visit www.uky.edu/OPBPA/business_plan.htm