Dr. R. Neil Southern
Associate Professor
University
of Memphis
Memphis, TN
2001
TCI Transportation Person
of the Year
Dr. R. Neil Southern is an Associate Professor at the University of Memphis where he teaches in the areas of Transportation, Traffic/Distribution Management, Logistics, and International & Strategic Marketing. He also served as Director of the Transportation Studies Institute that performs studies for business, governmental and academic organizations. He is the author of the book, Transportation & Logistics Basics (1997). The book has been used at major universities in the United States and Canada, adopted by United Parcel Service as their training guide, and used by Delta Nu Alpha as an educational source. Dr. Southern has published in the major transportation and logistic journals, plus he has presented papers at several national and regional conferences, as well as winning teaching honors at the University of Memphis. He has conducted more than thirty seminars at major universities throughout the United States. Dr. Southern was selected by the University of Pittsburgh as a Professor in the Semester at Sea Program for the spring 1999 educational voyage around the world. In addition to teaching, Dr. Southern has consulted with numerous firms, such as Federal Express, Schering-Plough Corporation, M.S. Carriers, J.B. Hunt, Builders Transportation, Alpha/Owens-Corning, and Rockwell International. Dr. Southern has also established the endowed "R. Neil Southern Logistics Scholarship Fund" at the University of Memphis to help students obtain a college education in the field of Transportation/Logistics.
Prior to his twenty-five year academic career, Dr. Southern was Director of Distribution & Transportation for Schering-Plough Corporation (1966-1976) and prior to that he was Traffic Manager for Alcoa International (1957-1966) in the United States and Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Southern is also a veteran, having served as an officer in the U.S. Army (1954-1956).
Dr. Southern received his Ph.D in Business Administration (Marketing & Transportation) from Arizona State University (1981) and his B.A. and M.S. degrees in Transportation from the University of Tennessee (1954 & 1957, respectively). He is an Interstate Commerce Commission Practitioner and a certified member of the American Society of Transportation & Logistics.
Dr. Southern is a long time member of The Traffic Club of Memphis, having served as a Director (1988-93) and on numerous occasions as speaker. He has also been active in the Council of Logistics Management (President 1991) and Delta Nu Alpha Transportation Fraternity (President 1986).
