Darrell Edwards is assistant professor of practice in the Supply Chain Management Department at the University of Tennessee. Prior to joining the UT faculty, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at La-Z-Boy Incorporated, the nation’s largest producer of reclining chairs and one of the nation’s largest providers of home furnishings.

In his keynote, Darrell will draw on years of experience leading La-Z-Boy Inc.’s 9,000-person global operations and supply chain team, sharing wisdom and best practices on building a resilient culture that can adapt to change and adversity while meeting the deadlines and challenges of the everyday.  He’ll share best practices on developing world-class teams while improving team agility and decision-making, and include lessons learned from redesigning La-Z-Boy’s global supply chain strategy, navigating disruptions from Covid to tariffs and building a new talent management framework.