The purpose of the annual awards is to promote Finnish competitiveness by supporting the development of purchasing, logistics and supply chains. The aim is to combine the best practices and the development needs from the field with academic research for a continuous development of the procurement and logistics sectors.
“I am really grateful for this honor and that my work on humanitarian logistics is being noticed. Logistic expertise provides excellent prerequisites to think holistically, and I firmly believe that understanding the supply chain is key for company management and performance,” says Spens, President at BI Norwegian Business School.
Karen Spens was chosen as Logistician Professional of the Year due to her influence on the structure of the logistics research community in Finland and her work on humanitarian logistics research and training.
Spens is one of the founders of HUMLOG research institute (Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Research Institute) at Hanken School of Economics and has published several books on the subject. Karen Spens is a Finnish citizen and served as rector of Hanken School of Economics in the period from 2015 to 2022. She received her PhD from Hanken in 2001 and became professor of supply chain management and corporate geography in 2007.
Spens was given the award at LOGY’s annual conference, gathering about 500 participants from the industry.
LOGY is a not-for-profit association, which seeks to develop procedures for purchasing of materials and services and to promote physical logistics and professional skills of employees in logistics for the benefit of the Finnish economy and society.