Baylor Announces Hannah Stolze, Ph.D., as Inaugural William E. Crenshaw Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management

Baylor recruits leading supply chain scholar, researcher and author from Wheaton College and Lipscomb University to new role in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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By Derek Smith, Baylor University Marketing & Communications

WACO, Texas (Feb. 2, 2023) – Baylor University announced today the appointment of Hannah Stolze, Ph.D., as the inaugural William E. Crenshaw Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management in the Department of Management in Baylor’s nationally ranked Hankamer School of Business. Stolze, who developed an interest in the supply chain in the U.S. Army before establishing an academic career marked by highly regarded research and program development, comes to Baylor from Lipscomb University and Wheaton College.

“The chance to come to a faith-based, R1 university to conduct rigorous research and be effective in the classroom is an awesome opportunity,” Stolze said. “Baylor is unique as a Christian research university, and it’s very appealing to join a community of scholars and thinkers who will ask important questions and seek answers together.”

Stolze, who will join Baylor this fall, currently holds a joint appointment as director and associate professor of supply chain management at Lipscomb and executive director and visiting professor of core studies in business at Wheaton College. At Wheaton, she formed the Wheaton Center for Faith & Innovation, a research and training institute comprised of students, alumni, leaders and academicians that fosters the integration of the marketplace and ministry. Prior to joining the faculties of Wheaton and Lipscomb, she spent three years as assistant professor at Florida State University.

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Stolze to Baylor University, Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., said. “Her research in supply change management brings distinctive Christian values into the conversation about important questions regarding how we acquire our food. Her research will resonate well with many in the Baylor community.”

Sustainable and transformative supply chain research

The U.S. Army served as a catalyst for Stolze’s eventual academic career. As a cultural analyst in psychological operations and public affairs officer during her six years of military service, Stolze was introduced to the supply chain while serving in roles in global purchasing and buying. She attended college through the GI bill and eventually earned an M.B.A. through the military. It was there that she began a focus on the civilian side of supply chain management.

In Stolze’s academic career, she would focus more specifically on sustainable practices in the retail and food chain and, eventually, transformative supply chain practices. While the sustainable food chain focuses on “people-profit-planet,” a transformative supply chain strategy incorporates four additional outcome variables: the physical health of people within the supply chain, spiritual wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and political impacts. Her research portfolio in these areas includes partnerships with the Department of Defense and private organizations like Frito Lay, BNSF Railway, Vermeer Southeast, KeHE Distributors, and a myriad of small social enterprise startups in the US and Indonesia. Her academic awards and recognition include a teaching fellowship to Indonesia through the U.S. Fulbright Program in 2020.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Stolze to the Hankamer School of Business,” said Sandeep Mazumder, Ph.D., William E. Crenshaw Endowed Dean of Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and tremendous ideas for how the Business School can position itself as a leader in supply chain management research while preparing future professionals for the industry.”

The intersection of faith and discipline have been a further hallmark of Stolze’s career. In studying strategic approaches to the delivery of food and other needed products to people around the world, Stolze could not escape the connections between best practices in supply chain management and admonitions in Scripture.

“I love the field of logistic and supply chain management because every country in the world needs to know how to get food, shelter, health care or anything we need for life to people,” Stolze said. “In studying principles of supply chain management, I realized that many were aligned with biblical principles. That was actually part of my motivation to go to Wheaton—I earned a Master’s in Bible there to really explore this from a deep academic and theological perspective. And that really developed a passion for the good that can be done by business and inspired me to be a person who champions that.”

That passion coalesced in research and scholarship at Wheaton, culminating in her work with the Wheaton Center for Faith & Innovation. She has retained her position as director after joining the faculty at Lipscomb.

“There’s a hunger for Christian leaders in the marketplace to examine how their faith impacts the work they do Monday through Friday,” Stolze said. “We need leaders who will make decisions that go beyond the bottom-line. A supply chain manager has more opportunity to have a global impact than ever before in human history. To think about not only profits, but sustainability, to think about ways that have a positive social impact, that support human flourishing. Even in secular spaces, these frontiers are opening up, to explore the emotional, political and spiritual impacts. I’m excited to do that here at Baylor.”

The intersection of business and faith served as the foundation for Stolze’s book, Wisdom-Based Business: Applying Biblical Principles and Evidence-Based Research for a Purposeful and Profitable Business, published by Zondervan in 2021.

Transformational philanthropy

The William E. Crenshaw Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management was established as part of a $5 million gift from William E. (Ed) and Denise Crenshaw to Baylor University through the Give Light campaign. This endowed chair is one of two positions created by the Crenshaws within Hankamer School of Business, as well as Crenshaw Deanship and support for endowed scholarships. Their generosity allows the Business School to attract and retain distinguished faculty members who will be significant contributors in furthering the Hankamer School of Business's position as a national leader in business education. The Crenshaw Chairs will provide strategic growth as the Business School seeks to strengthen curriculum and research in support of the priorities of Baylor’s Illuminate strategic plan. Both chairs receive further funding through the Foster Academic Challenge matching program.

Ed (B.B.A. ’73) and Denise Crenshaw of Lakeland, Florida, are long-time supporters of Baylor University. Ed is the former CEO of Publix Super Markets Inc., an employee-owned, private supermarket chain based in Lakeland, a position from which he retired in 2016. He continues to lead Publix as Chairman of the Board. A graduate of the University of Georgia, Denise Crenshaw is a dedicated volunteer with Peace River, a United Way agency assisting women in crisis. She and Ed are members of the First United Methodist Church of Lakeland. They also were recognized in 2012 with the Baylor Legacy Award, which is awarded to individuals who demonstrate extraordinary service and philanthropy to Baylor.

Ed and Denise also have been longtime supporters of Baylor students. In 2005, the Crenshaws provided naming support for Baylor's Ed Crenshaw Student Foundation Center, establishing The Ed Crenshaw Endowed Student Foundation Scholarship and The Ed Crenshaw Endowed Scholarship Fund in the Hankamer School of Business. In 2013, the Crenshaws also provided the naming gift for the Ed and Denise Crenshaw Student Commons within the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.

“One of the most meaningful mandates in Scripture is that Jesus calls us to love God and love our neighbor through providing food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty. I believe Jesus was being quite literal, which led me to research these topics further—food insecurity, food availability and the ways companies can meet human need strategically,” Stolze said.

“The Crenshaw family has, through business and philanthropy, embodied this. I’m very grateful for their gift establishing this chair, which will allow us to serve our neighbors through research and scholarship,” she said.

Baylor publicly launched the Give Light campaign on Nov. 1, 2018. To date, the campaign has raised $1.26 billion. The Campaign has seen 88,286 alumni, parents and friends give to the University’s priorities, as well as establishing 747 endowed scholarships and 43 endowed faculty positions. More information and how to support the campaign can be found at Give Light: The Campaign for Baylor.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT THE HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business strives to further God’s kingdom through the realm of business, using God-given gifts and academic talents to do so. Faculty and students conduct purposeful research and participate in experiential learning opportunities, all while operating in a Christ-centered mission. Undergraduate students can choose from 13 major areas of study. Graduate students can earn their MBA on their terms, either through the full-time, online or a Dallas-based executive program. The Business School also offers three Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The School’s top-ranked programs make up approximately 25% of the University’s total enrollment. Visit hankamer.baylor.edu for more information.