July 21, 2023
Dr. Jon Kirchoff: from punk rocker to ECU's supply chain thought leader
Dr. Jon Kirchoff was named the marketing and supply chain management department chair for the College of Business in April of 2023. He joined the College in 2011 when he came in as an assistant professor out of the Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee. He also is an associate professor of supply chain management and a research associate for the Bureau of Business Research.
Prior to academia, he worked for 15 years in global purchasing and logistics management at Fortune 500 companies, including Mercedes-Benz U.S. International and Dish Network.
His primary areas of research include sustainable supply chain management, healthcare supply chain management, and functional integration. He has published articles in Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, among other academic and professional publications including Harvard Business Review.
But who is Dr. Jon Kirchoff, really?
Proudly borrowing from the Proust Questionnaire, we asked Dr. Kirchoff some questions so we can get to know him a little better.
What was your first concert?
Styx – Paradise Theater Tour at the Salt Palace in 1981! After that, things went downhill for them, although Mr. Roboto is a phenom. As for me, I soon discovered Punk Rock.
What are the qualities you might like in a person?
Humor and humility. I can get along with anyone who has a sense of humor and who doesn’t take themselves too seriously.
What is your idea of happiness?
Hiking in the desert with my wife and kids, mountain biking, skiing, playing the git fiddle with my band, being a professor, and drinking good bourbon – not always in that order.
If not a professor, what would you be?
Rock and Roll star or 1970’s German variety show host. If I could combine the two into one, Wunderbar!
If you could go back in time and witness anything in history, where would you go?
I think we romanticize historical events to make them more palatable, e.g. the Battle of Gettysburg. In reality, it was hellish and smelled terrible. That said, I would go to Egypt to watch the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the Sphinx of Giza being built. Can you imagine the scale of that operation?
Who is your favorite hero in fiction?
My Hero is really an Anti-hero – Ignatius Riley from Confederacy of Dunces!
Who are your heroes in real life?
My dad because he was a role model for me in every way. Bode Miller because he was a phenomenal skier who threw himself down the mountain in every race and overcame incredible personal pain. North Carolina’s own John Coltrane because he literally changed how jazz was written, performed, and experienced.
Who are your favorite writers?
John Steinbeck, J.D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Summertime in Brigham City, Utah. Everything was possible and every day was a new adventure plus monster movies were only $0.50 at the Roxy Theater.
What’s your favorite ECU/College of Business memory?
Anytime I can get my students to laugh while they learn.
What’s the one thing people would find most surprising to learn about you?
I don’t like pimento cheese and I love old musicals; I may break into Oklahoma! in the halls of Bate. The real shocker, however, is that I used to have 11 toenails.