ProfessorDonna Marshall

Professor Donna Marshall is Full Professor of Supply Chain Management at University College Dublin and an internationally recognised leader in sustainable and socially just supply chain transformation. Her work examines how global production networks can transition beyond extractive, efficiency-driven models to systems that are based on equity, integrity and connection. Her research engages with post-growth thinking and the structural limits of prevailing economic models. She examines whether supply chain systems built on perpetual growth and externalised environmental and social costs can deliver long-term societal wellbeing. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, she explores alternative governance models and just transitions asking how global supply chains might evolve to serve the many rather than the few. Across research, teaching and engagement, her mission is to help redesign global supply chains so they work for people, planet and long-term shared prosperity.

Over more than two decades, Professor Marshall has built one of Europe’s most influential research platforms in responsible supply chains. She has led or been a principal investigator in major international programmes totalling approximately €100 million in funding, including projects supported by the EU Horizon, Environmental Protection Agency and Science Foundation Ireland. Her personal competitive research funding exceeds €2 million, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Award. Her flagship initiative, Fashion’s Responsible Supply Chain Hub (FReSCH), which she co-leads, was recognised in 2025 by the Financial Times Responsible Business Education Awards for delivering measurable impact on policy and business practice.

Her research has been published in leading ABS4 and FT50 journals including MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Operations and Production Management and Production and Operations Management. She has received multiple international research awards and serves on the editorial boards of several top-ranked journals.

She is President Emerita of the International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA), having served as President from 2020–2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the association through a rapid digital transformation, redesigning its conferences and engagement model around accessibility, inclusion and community.

Professor Marshall works closely with industry, policymakers and civil society organisations. She has advised many top global brands, and has contributed to expert groups convened by the United Nations on traceability and sustainable fashion policy. She is also an original member and helped develop the Sustainable Procurement Pledge, a global professional movement promoting responsible sourcing.

At UCD, Professor Marshall developed the MSc in Supply Chain Management in 2003 and led the programme for 15 years, building it into one of the world’s top-ranked degrees in the field, before it evolved into the MSc in Sustainable Supply Chain Management. During that time, more than 1,000 master’s graduates completed the programme and now hold leadership positions across sectors and geographies worldwide. She considers shaping this global community of supply chain leaders one of her most meaningful achievements.