Beth A. Ward

With over 30 years of global supply chain experience, Beth Ward serves as an authentic leader, catalyst and change agent at organizations that align with her core values - meaningful purpose, capable teams, and people-focused cultures. Most recently, Professor Ward served as COO at Smart Warehousing and SVP supply chain & corporate officer at Hallmark, successfully leading through the most tumultuous years for supply chains in modern history. She holds a bachelor's degree in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering from Kansas State University and a master's degree in engineering management from the University of Kansas.

As the first Professor of the Practice for the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows (SELF) program at KU, Professor Ward brings decades of practical business experience into the classroom for engineering students. Her goal is to accelerate development of leaders across the seven SELF pillars-entrepreneurial spirit, communication, interpersonal skills, management, business, engineering and leadership.