Bachelor in Operations and Supply Chain Management (BIT-OSM)

The OSM option is designed to teach our students how to manage operations in business and government. An operation is the process by which a company or organization converts raw materials, labor and capital into a final product or service.

In an automobile company, materials and labor are transformed by manufacturing operations into cars.

In a hospital, nurses and doctors use medicines, care and equipment to help sick patients become healthy.

In a bank, staff members use computers and systems to manage the flow of money among accounts and provide customers with statements and other banking services.

The first bachelor’s degree in business at what would eventually become Virginia Tech was offered in 1925 and the first master’s degree in 1931. A school of business was established in 1961 with 28 faculty members and 823 students. Business became one of the colleges of the university in 1965.

The college was named for two alumni, Robert B. Pamplin and his son, Robert B. Pamplin Jr., in 1986 in recognition of their lifetime accomplishments, service to Virginia Tech and especially to its college of business, and their financial support. Robert B. Pamplin, who died in June 2009 at age 97, was the retired chairman of Georgia-Pacific. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. is chairman, president, and CEO of the R.B. Pamplin Corporation of Portland, Oregon. The Pamplins’ total gifts to the college exceed $25 million.