Sumadhur Shakya

Dr. Sumadhur Shakya is an international agribusiness expert with a specialty in production, operations,supply chain management and international agribusiness. He has lived and worked on two continents and holds degrees in crop science, international agribusiness and supply chain agribusiness.

Dr. Shakya received his undergraduate Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in Crop Science from the leading national Punjab Agricultural University in India with a concentration in plant breeding and genetics. Subsequently, he worked in the high technology sector with Dell Corporation as a Case Manager, Global Business Development. Subsequently, he traveled to the United States for his Master’s degree in International Agribusiness at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. He completed his Ph.D. in in Transportation and Logistics specializing in logistics and supply chain systems in agribusiness at the North Dakota State University. His area of focus was stochastic spatial optimization of supply chains applied to the nitrogenous fertilizer industry in North America.

In addition to his business experience with Dell Corporation, Dr. Shakya has worked with the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute (vTI) in Braunschweig, Germany where he completed a large-scale project on global greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural farms. He has also worked on research projects with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) in Fargo, North Dakota where he completed projects with a consortium of organizations including the North Dakota State Department of Transportation, Archer Daniels Midland Company and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.

Dr. Shakya’s focus is on understanding the role that technology and efficient organizational principles play in creating better agricultural and transportation outcomes. Towards this goal, he conducts research in areas related to production, operations, logistics, supply chain systems and spatial optimization to solve problems in agribusiness and transportation. His research uses sophisticated technological systems for the development of modern workforce skills at all levels in agribusiness. One of his areas of interest is the application of responsible business (People, Ethics, Equity, Planet and Profit) principles to deliver sustainable and profitable agricultural results. He believes that public-private partnerships and the use of innovative technology provide effective means for productivity enhancement and risk management in the agricultural sector. His teaching philosophy and approach emphasizes the use of advanced tools to manage real world problems as a balanced combination of art and science.