Always positive, enthusiastic, and supportive.
Wenli Xiao is a Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management and Department Chair of Interdisciplinary Programs in the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego, where she has served since joining as Assistant Professor of Operations Management in 2012. She received tenure in 2020 and has been recognized for her contributions with promotions to her current roles. Xiao holds a Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology Scheller College of Management (2012), an M.Sc. in Management Science from Fudan University (2007), and a B.S. in Management Science from the University of Science and Technology of China (2004). Her research focuses on knowledge management, management of technology, new product development, supply chain management, sustainable operations, and supply chain networks. She actively reviews for leading journals including Management Science, Production and Operations Management, and Decision Sciences, and has chaired sessions at INFORMS and POMS conferences. Xiao teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in operations management, management science, prescriptive business analytics, dynamic optimal control, and supply chain management and modeling.
Xiao's scholarly impact is evidenced by publications in top journals such as Production and Operations Management and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. Key works include 'The Effect of Learning and Integration Investment on Manufacturing Outsourcing Decisions: A Game Theoretic Approach' with Cheryl Gaimon (Production and Operations Management, 2013); 'Investment in Environmental Process Improvement' with Cheryl Gaimon, Ravi Subramanian, and Markus Biehl (Production and Operations Management, 2018); and 'Choice of E-waste Recycling Standard under Recovery Channel Competition' with Gizem Esenduran, Yen-Ting Lin, and Mingwen Jin (Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2018). Additional research explores customer network centrality and supplier performance (2020), lemons markets and certified pre-owned programs (2023), and the impact of waste-sorting regulations on secondary markets (forthcoming 2025). She has presented at major conferences including POMS, INFORMS, MSOM, and EurOMA, and seminars at institutions like Georgia Tech and University of Massachusetts Amherst. Awards include the Chan Hahn Best Paper Award Finalists (Academy of Management, 2017), Junior Faculty Research Award (University of San Diego, 2013), POMS Emerging Scholars Program (2013), Top University Faculty Award (2023-2024), and Illuminating Excellence Professor designation (2025). Xiao is a Changemaker Faculty Fellow and serves on the Knauss Curriculum Committee.
