The relatively unknown field of logistics will be the central theme of the annual Voorhees Lecture Friday.

The ISU College of Business will be sponsoring the eighth-annual Voorhees Lecture, which was started to honor professor emeritus R. Dale Voorhees.

“Professor Voorhees retired in 1991, and at that time, we established the program to honor him,” said Mike Crum, professor and chairman of logistics, operations and management information systems. “He was one of the pioneers of linking theory and practice. … A lot of the things we do in classes today are things he started a long time ago.”

This year’s lecture is titled “Logistics: The Anonymous Profession” and will feature the executive vice president of the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), George Gecowets.

“Every spring, we’ve had a national figure in transportation and logistics come speak,” said Skip Walter, associate professor of logistics, operations and management information systems. “Mr. Gecowets is the head of the largest, international organization of logistics professionals.”

Crum said Gecowets served as executive director of CLM for 30 years. Under his leadership, membership in the CLM increased from fewer than 500 people to more than 14,000.

“The reason we wanted to have Mr. Gecowets here is that he has been extremely supportive of universities in general in the area of logistics management,” he said. “[The CLM] believe[s] in life-long learning, so we thought it was a good time to invite him to be our distinguished speaker.”

Gecowets’ speech will address the evolution of logistics management in corporate America, Crum said.

“Logistics management today is in the strategic level, in the boardroom of the firm,” he said. “Ten years ago, that was not the case. Today, it is part of the corporate strategy.”

Walter said Gecowets has sought to support the needs of students, educators and educational institutions through the CLM since 1963.

The Voorhees Lecture is Friday at 1:15 p.m. in Room 204-208 of the Scheman Building.