Smeal Faculty and Staff Members Receive U.S. Marine Corps Commendations
Dean James B. Thomas (right) presents U.S. Marine Corps commendations to John Coyle, professor emeritus of business administration.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (November 29, 2011) -- James Eusse, director of the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center within the I Marine Expeditionary Force in the U.S. Marine Corps, recently presented Certificates of Commendation to five faculty and staff members at the Penn State Smeal College of Business.
The commendations, signed by Col. S.M. Hanson, commanding officer of the the 1st Marine Headquarters Group, recognize the contributions of Penn State Executive Programs and the Center for Supply Chain Research to the education of more than 1,300 Marines over approximately 13 years.
The certificate presented to John Coyle, professor emeritus of business administration and director of corporate sponsors for the Center for Supply Chain Research, credits Coyle with contributing to the development of some of the Marine Corps' current leaders. "His commitment to excellence and education significantly contributed to the Marine leadership," the commendation reads. "Dr. Coyle's outstanding motivation and dedication to duty reflected credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."
Also receiving commendations were Corena Breon, coordinator of enrollment management, Penn State Executive Programs; Susan Purdum, administrative director, Center for Supply Chain Research; Claudia Snyder, assistant director of marketing communications, Penn State Executive Programs; Jeffrey Spearly, senior director, learning and development, Penn State Executive Programs; and Maria Taylor, managing director, Penn State Executive Programs.
Additionally, Eusse presented Breon, Snyder, and Taylor with Marine Corps oar plaques, a traditional Naval honor originating with Marine Corps reconnaissance missions.
Smeal's relationship with the Marine Corps began in 1999 with the development of the Marine Corps Logistics Education Program (MCLEP) for military and Department of Defense logisticians. The executive education program offered military logisticians several weeks of training with Smeal's top-ranked supply chain faculty members both at Penn State's University Park campus and at Marine Corps bases around the world.
The MCLEP courses emphasized logistics, supply chain management, change leadership, managerial development, information technology, and metrics for success. The content focused on new and innovative commercial logistics concepts, products, and processes that could be tailored to support the Marine Corps' logistics modernization.
Smeal was also home to Penn State's Marine Corps Logistics Fellows Program, a yearlong fellowship that placed active Marine Corps logisticians at the college to take graduate-level supply chain courses while working on a project with the Center for Supply Chain Research and the Marine Corps Logistics Headquarters.
