Barton School Appoints New Chair of Finance, Real Estate and Decision Sciences Department

The W. Frank Barton School of Business’ Department of Finance, Real Estate and Decision
Sciences (FREDS) at Wichita State University has appointed Dr. Mehmet Barut as its
new department chair. Dr. Barut will serve as chair for three years starting in Fall
2023. He is a Professor of Supply Chain Management within the department and was elected
by FREDS Department faculty.

“I’m honored that my colleagues have entrusted the leadership of our department to
me,” said Dr. Barut. “I hope to follow the example of my predecessor and lead FREDS
to new heights.”

Dr. Barut received his Ph.D. in Industrial Management from the College of Business
at Clemson University in 1999. He worked as a visiting professor at Clemson before
joining the faculty at WSU in 2000. At the Barton School, he designed and introduced
the STEM-designated master’s degree program in Management Science and Supply Chain
Management. He also serves as the director for the Supply Chain Graduate Programs
and oversees the Graduate Certificate Program in Supply Chain Management for Cargill.
His research focuses on supply chain performance, supply chain information sharing,
scarce resource management, revenue management, market segmentation, and problem-based
learning.

Dr. Barut’s publications appeared in leading journals including “Decision Sciences,”
“European Journal of Operational Research,” “Computers and Operations Research,” “Annals
of Operations Research,” “International Journal of Electronic Commerce,” “Decision
Sciences Journal of Innovative Education,” and others.

“Mehmet has the acumen to make a great impact over the next three years,” said Dr.
Larisa Genin, Dean of the Barton School. “The FREDS department is on a continued trajectory
of significant and sustained growth. In recent years, it has added new industry-aligned
degree programs such as STEM-designated programs in business analytics and supply
chain. Mehmet will have an opportunity to continue this upward trajectory by introducing
new programs, innovating current ones and providing top-notch experiences for our
students.”

In addition to offering courses in Finance, Management Information Systems, Decisions
Sciences, Real Estate and Business Law, the FREDS Department provides students and
the larger Wichita community with additional signature programs and experiences such
as the Koch Global Trading Center, Center for Real Estate and its Business Analytics
Lab.

For more information on FREDS, visit www.wichita.edu/academics/business/freds/.