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Long-time supply chain thought leader Art van Bodegraven dies at age 78

A prolific writer and well-known consultant, van Bodegraven had a 55-year career focused on supply chain management and leadership development.

Long-time supply chain consultant Art van Bodegraven Jr. passed away this past Sunday, June 18, 2017, from pancreatic cancer. Van Bodegraven was a longstanding contributor to our sister publication, DC Velocity.

He spent most of his 55-year career in consulting, developing an affinity for supply chain management. Most recently, van Bodegraven was managing principal of the van Bodegraven Associates consultancy and founding principal of Discovery Executive Services, which develops and delivers supply chain educational programs. He was formerly chair of the Supply Chain Group AG, partner at The Progress Group LLC, development executive at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), practice leader with S4 Consulting, and a managing director in Coopers & Lybrand's consulting practice.


Over the course of his career, Van Bodegravan led many groundbreaking strategic, operational, and educational projects for more than 150 U.S. and global companies in dozens of verticals.

Van Bodegraven was a prolific writer and a dedicated teacher. He was the principal author of the Basic Training column in DC Velocity, which he co-wrote for many years with his fellow industry expert Ken Ackerman. He and Ackerman also wrote Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management, the definitive primer in the field. His popular blog, "The Art of Art," has been a staple of DC Velocity's website. Van Bodegraven was passionate about developing the next generation of supply chain professionals and enjoyed leading workshops for CSCMP.

Van Bodegraven received a bachelor's in education from Purdue University. He was also a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served as an Intelligence Officer stationed in Korea.

A longer appreciation of van Bodegraven's life and work has been posted on DC Velocity's website.

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