Summary
Professor Sandun Perera’s research focuses on Supply Chain Management, Disruptive Technologies in Operations Management, Healthcare Operations Management, and the intersection of Operations and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with other functional areas in business. He has collaborated with multinational technology firms, retailers, hospitals, blood banks, and pharmaceutical companies, producing impactful research published in top-tier academic journals. His work has appeared in journals recognized by the Financial Times Top 50 and UTD Top 24 lists, with more than 40 publications in A/A*-rated journals on the ABDC list.
Before joining the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno (COB), Professor Perera was affiliated with the Flint School of Management (SOM) and the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) at the University of Michigan. His research contributions have earned him multiple prestigious awards and grants, including the Financial Services Section Best Research Paper Award (Second Place) from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Beta Gamma Sigma Junior Faculty Researcher Award and the Senior Faculty Researcher Award from the COB, and the Outstanding Faculty Award for Research from the SOM. He also plays an active role in academic publishing, serving as a Guest Senior Editor for the Production and Operations Management Journal, a Department Editor for IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and an Associate Editor for Decision Sciences, OMEGA, and Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review.
With over 20 years of teaching experience, Professor Perera has been recognized for excellence in instruction, receiving awards such as the Bill Parish Excellence in Teaching Award from the COB at the University of Nevada, Reno. His current teaching portfolio includes courses in Global Supply Chain Management, Sports Analytics, and Pricing, AI, and Predictive Analytics.
In addition to his research and teaching, Professor Perera serves as the Executive Director of the Human-Centered AI Society. He also holds key leadership roles in major academic and professional organizations, serving as Vice President of Membership for the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), Program Chair for the POMS Annual Conference 2026, and Chair of Professional Development for the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) Annual Conference 2025.
Education
- Ph.D., Operations Management, Jindal School of Management - The University of Texas at Dallas, 2015
- MBA, Jindal School of Management - The University of Texas at Dallas, 2014
- M.S., Supply Chain Management, Jindal School of Management - The University of Texas at Dallas, 2012
- Ph.D. level courses in Finance and Economics, University of Zurich - Switzerland, 2009-2010
- Ph.D., Financial Mathematics, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science - Florida Atlantic University, 2009
- M.S., Mathematics, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science - Florida Atlantic University, 2008
- M.S., Statistics and Applied Mathematics, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science - Florida Atlantic University, 2007
- B.S., Finance, Business and Computational Mathematics, University of Colombo - Sri Lanka, 2004