Kenneth E. Kirby

Kenneth E. Kirby is faculty emeritus of the Department of Industrial Engineering at The University of Tennessee, specializes in the areas of manufacturing facilities and systems design, organizational systems analysis and design, and applied statistics.  He has taught in the Center for Executive Education's Practical Strategies for Process Improvement since 1985. 

He is co-designer of the Lean Enterprise Systems Design Institute.  He has taught internationally in England, Brazil, Ireland, Germany, France, Costa Rica, and Singapore. 

Dr. Kirby came to The University of Tennessee after fifteen years of industrial experience with the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA).  At ALCOA of Tennessee, he served as the Manager of Industrial Engineering.  Dr. Kirby currently is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Statistics, Operations, and Management Science. 

In 2005, Dr. Kirby was selected as one of eight subject matter experts as part of an assessment team working for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  This team provided a comprehensive assessment of Department of Defense Process Improvement Initiatives across all of the services.  In 2006 and 2007, he has served as one of the subject matter experts working on the Air Force Smart Operations 21 efforts.

  During the past three years, he has consulted with Lennox Industries, K2, American Standard, Fruit of the Loom, Worth Sports, and American Bicycle Group.  Ken received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from The University of Tennessee..

Dr. Kirby teaches in the Lean Enterprise Systems Design Institute program, the Maintenace, Repair and Overhaul Program and the Data-Based Process Management.