On this episode, Rebecca Jamieson talks with Ernest Nicolas, the senior vice president and chief supply chain officer for Rockwell Automation. Ernest speaks about how his many connections across UW-Madison contributed to his professional success, the value of lifelong learning, and the urgent need for the fields of engineering and the supply chain to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Ernest Nicolas is senior vice president and chief supply chain officer for Rockwell Automation. In this global leadership role, Ernest has overall responsibility of the end-to-end supply chain for Rockwell. He joined the team in 2006 as a Lean, Six Sigma Project Manager and has held several roles of increased responsibility within the Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) functions, overseeing the process of planning, sourcing, producing and delivering Rockwell products and services to customers.

Prior to his current role, Ernest most recently served as Senior Vice President, Operations & Engineering Services (now known as ISC), and before that, he was Vice President, Global Supply Chain. Before joining Rockwell Automation, Ernest held supply chain, manufacturing engineering and manufacturing operations positions with the General Motors Corporation.

Ernest holds a Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, an MBA in Operations Management and Master’s degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also a member of the UW E-Business Consortium. 

Ernest is a member of the Executive Leadership Council. In both 2019 and 2020, he was named to Empower’s 100 Ethnic Minority Executives Role Model List. In 2020, Ernest was named to Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. Ernest also serves on the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee Urban League. He is an Executive Advisory Board member for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Supply Chain Management program within the School of Business.

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