Dr. Marc Schniederjans, C. Wheaton Battery Distinguished Professor of Business, passed away on July 18 after serving as a distinguished faculty member at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business since 1981. Colleagues regarded Schniederjans as a major asset to Nebraska in the field of academic research and distance education.
 
Dr. Gordie Karels, former associate dean at the college, praised Schniederjans for both his academic and personal ideals.
 
“Marc was well ahead of the rest of the university in development of online education,” said Karels. “His work became the starting point for our highly successful Offutt Online MBA program. He was one of the most highly rated and well-liked face-to-face instructors in the college. He was always very cooperative and flexible in the curriculum development process and a highly productive researcher. I think he sent me more words of encouragement during my medical leave than any other faculty member.”
 
Schniederjans also provided strong leadership to the College of Business during the development of the new Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics in recent years. As a student mentor, he served as advisor of Alpha Kappa Psi at Nebraska, the country’s largest professional business fraternity.  He won multiple teaching awards including the University of Nebraska Recognition Award for Contributions to Students and the College of Business Distinguished Teaching and Distance Teaching awards.
 
Marc’s areas of research expertise included supply chain management, business analytics, lean management, e-commerce and outsourcing. Schniederjans authored more than 100 journal articles and 20 books, including Reinventing the Supply Chain Life Cycle, Business Analytics: Principles, Concepts and Applications, and E-Commerce Operations Management, 2d. ed. His election as president of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) in 2013 underscored his academic reputation among scholars throughout the world.
 
“Marc was a great colleague,” said Dr. Ken Kendall, past president of DSI and Distinguished Professor of Management at the Rutgers School of Business. “He was a strong advocate of the interdisciplinary nature of DSI. He would drop everything to help us if we were in need. We enjoyed his sense of humor and his eagerness to help at a moment’s notice.”
 
Melissa Lewis, administrative coordinator at Nebraska Business, worked with Schniederjans and explained how he lifted the spirits of those around him.
 
“He was one of my favorites. Every time he came into the office, we called it a ‘Marc sighting’. He always made sure to ask how I was doing and what was new in my life,” said Lewis.
 
Schniederjans earned a Ph.D. and MBA from Saint Louis University.
 
He is survived by his wife, Jill, son, Xan Schniederjans, and daughters, Ashley Primm and Dara Schniederjans. 

Memorials may be given to the OH Schniederjans Scholarship fund for women and minorities in the College of Business at UNL. Condolences may be left online at http://go.unl.edu/qrij.  Published: July 21, 2017