About

John Anderson is an Emeritus Professor in the Supply Chain and Operations Department at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. He has served as past Associate Dean of Administration and past Department Chair of Operations and Management Sciences within the school. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, obtained in 1966, as well as an MBA and PhD from the University of Minnesota's School of Management, completed in 1968 and 1973 respectively. Professor Anderson's research interests involve Operations Analysis and Strategy, Quality Management, and Process Knowledge Representation. He has contributed to academic and professional journals such as Decision Sciences, Management Sciences, and the Journal of Operations Management, among others. He has held leadership roles in several professional and academic associations, including being a founding member and President of the Decision Sciences Institute of America, and a founding member of the Juran Center for Quality Leadership. Throughout his career, he has taught primarily at the graduate level in MBA, EMBA, Executive MBA, and PhD programs at the University of Minnesota, and has been actively involved in executive development programs. In addition to his academic work, Professor Anderson has worked as a consultant for various business and government organizations in operations management, process leadership, and quality management. He founded the Office of Service and Continuous Improvement at the University of Minnesota and participated in the Strategic Positioning Initiative. His scholarly contributions include numerous publications and research projects focused on quality improvement, process control, and operations strategy, and he has received several awards and honors recognizing his contributions to the field.

Research topics

• Biology
• Agronomy
• Ecology
• Biotechnology
• Horticulture
• Genetics
• Demography

Selected publications

• Genetic architecture of agronomic and quality traits in a nested association mapping population of spring wheat

  The Plant Genome · 2020 · 17 citations

  • Biology
  • Genetics
  • Agronomy

  Germplasm collections are rich sources of genetic variation to improve crops for many valuable traits. Nested association mapping (NAM) populations can overcome the limitations of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in germplasm collections by reducing the effect of population structure. We exploited the genetic diversity of the USDA-ARS wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) core collection by developing the Spring Wheat Multiparent Introgression Population (SWMIP). To develop this population, twenty-five core parents were crossed and backcrossed to the Minnesota spring wheat cultivar RB07. The NAM population and 26 founder parents were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing and phenotyped for heading date, height, test weight, and grain protein content. After quality control, 20,312 markers with physical map positions were generated for 2,038 recombinant inbred lines (RILs). The number of RILs in each family varied between 58 and 96. Three GWAS models were utilized for quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection and accounted for known family stratification, genetic kinship, and both covariates. GWAS was performed on the whole population and also by bootstrap sampling of an equal number of RILs from each family. Greater power of QTL detection was achieved by treating families equally through bootstrapping. In total 16, 15, 12, and 13 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were identified for heading date, height, test weight, and grain protein content, respectively. Some of these MTAs were coincident with major genes known to control the traits, but others were novel and contributed by the wheat core parents. The SWMIP will be a valuable source of genetic variation for spring wheat breeding.

  DOI

• ‘MN‐Clearwater’, the first food‐grade intermediate wheatgrass (Kernza perennial grain) cultivar

  Journal of Plant Registrations · 2020 · 104 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Agronomy
  • Biology
  • Horticulture

  Abstract ‘MN‐Clearwater’ (Reg. no. CV‐287, PI 692651) is the world's first commercial food‐grade intermediate wheatgrass [IWG; Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey subsp. intermedium ] grain cultivar. It was developed as a synthetic population at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, and released in August 2019. Intermediate wheatgrass is a perennial grain crop currently undergoing domestication and is known for its extensive long root system that can recycle soil nutrients and sequester carbon. MN‐Clearwater (experimental designation MN1504) was created by intercrossing seven parents selected for high grain yield, reduced shattering, high free grain threshing, reduced lodging, and uniform maturity. MN‐Clearwater was advanced for two generations before being evaluated in statewide yield trials, after which the fourth seed generation was released as the cultivar in a limited public release. In variety trials across Minnesota, MN‐Clearwater produced 696 kg ha −1 (621 lb ac −1 ) of grain with minimal lodging and negligible disease levels. The first 2 yr produce the highest grain yields under Minnesota conditions, and third‐year yields are significantly lower (average reduction of 77%) than the first 2 yr. As the first IWG cultivar released for sale under the Kernza trade name (The Land Institute), we expect this population to be a cornerstone resource for the IWG research community as well as for interested growers, food processors, and commercial partners. MN‐Clearwater grain is sold as Kernza perennial grain.

  DOI

• Identification and stacking of crucial traits required for the domestication of pennycress

  Nature Food · 2020 · 106 citations

  • Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Agronomy
  DOI

Recent grants

• Cognitive Applications of Matrix Memory Models

  NSF · $264k · 1983–1986

Frequent coauthors

• Shiaoman Chao

  Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center

  77 shared

• Mark E. Sorrells

  Cornell University

  64 shared

• Jorge Dubcovsky

  64 shared

• Eduard Akhunov

  Kansas State University

  59 shared

• Jan Dvořák

  56 shared

• Bikram S. Gill

  Kansas State University

  54 shared

• Shahryar F. Kianian

  Cereal Disease Laboratory

  53 shared

• Emily Conley

  University of Minnesota

  52 shared

Awards & honors

• Best Paper Award, ASU Quality Management Research Conference…
• National American Institute of Decision Sciences Innovative…
• Dean's Award for Applied Research, Curtis L. Carlson School…
• Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award, College of Business…
• Dennis Grawoig Distinguished Service Award from the Decision…

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