Naren Agrawal
Naren Agrawal is the Benjamin and Mae Swig Professor of Information Systems and Analytics at the Leavey School of Business, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1992. His academic work focuses on supply chain management, service operations, and analytics, including applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in operations and decision-making. He is currently the interim dean of the Leavey School of Business, having previously served in this role from July 2020 to June 2021.
Agrawal’s research has appeared in leading journals such as Harvard Business Review, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management. He has served in editorial roles for major journals in the field and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 2020. He has also held visiting faculty appointments at The Wharton School and the Indian School of Business.
Agrawal teaches in the MBA and Executive MBA programs and has received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence annually since 1996. He was named Professor of the Year by Executive MBA cohorts in 2018, 2024, and 2025. He has also served in academic leadership roles at Santa Clara University, including Associate Dean of Faculty and department chair.
Updated Jan 2026
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- Ph.D., Operations and Information Management, 1994
- M.A., Decision Sciences, 1990
University of Texas at Dallas
- M.S., Management Sciences, 1987
Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, India
- B. Tech., Mechanical Engineering, 1984
- Supply Chain Strategy & Analytics
- Service Operations
- Machine Learning Applications in Supply Chains
- Retail and High-Technology Operations
- Digital Advertising Operations and Dynamic Pricing Models
Recent & Forthcoming
Cohen, M.A., Agrawal, N., Deshpande, R. Reimagining Supply Chain Planning Using Machine Learning: A Roadmap to Agility and Resilience, In Cohen, M.C., and T. Dai (eds.) AI in Supply Chains – Perspectives from Global Thought Leaders, Springer, Switzerland, Forthcoming. 2025.
Narendra Agrawal, Sami Najafi-Asadolahi, Stephen A. Smith (2025) Dynamic Pricing and Bidding for Display Advertising Campaigns. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. Forthcoming. Published online in Articles in Advance 09 Apr 2025: https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2023.0600
Agrawal, N., Cohen, M.A., Deshpande, R., Deshpande, V.D., How Machine Learning Will Transform Supply Chain Management, Harvard Business Review, 103 (3-4), 128-137, March-April 2024.
Agrawal, N., Najafi, N., Smith, S.A., “A Markov Decision Model for Managing Display Advertising Campaigns.” Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 25(2), 489-507, 2023.
Notable Earlier Contributions
Agrawal, N., S. A. Smith. (Eds.) Retail Supply Chain Management: Quantitative Models and Empirical Studies. 2nd Edition. Springer, 2015.
Smith, S.A., N. Agrawal, “Optimal Markdown Pricing and Inventory Allocation for Retail Chains with Inventory Dependent Demand,” Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 19(2):290-304, 2017.
N. Agrawal, S.A. Smith, “Optimal Inventory Management Using Retail Prepacks,” European Journal of Operations Research, 274(2), 531-544, 2019. Featured as EJOR Editor’s Choice Articles in December 2018.
- EMBA 910 – Managing Operations, Technologies & Supply Chains
- ISBA 2431 – Supply Chain Management