People

Dr. Kevin Taaffe - Chair

Kevin Taaffe, Harriet & Jerry Dempsey Professor and Chair of the Industrial Engineering Department, joined Clemson as an assistant professor in 2004. He brings three decades of industry and academic experience to the position. Taaffe's research interests include the application of simulation and optimization in healthcare, production and transportation logistics, with much of his most recent research centered on applying industrial engineering techniques and analysis to healthcare. He holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. in industrial systems and engineering from the University of Florida.

• Received the Fellow Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), an honor that puts him in the highest class of IISE membership
• Served IISE in several roles, including faculty advisor to the Clemson chapter, senior vice president of operations, and region vice president
• Work includes over 70 refereed journal publications, six book chapters and 55 refereed conference proceedings
• Received Collaboration Award in 2018 for research conducted on preoperative services, scheduling, and day-of-surgery patient flow
• Assisted in securing over $12M in research grants at Clemson University
• Research funded by various federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality