Chuck Taylor has never been afraid of a difficult problem. In the 1980s, Taylor helped logistics and transportation professionals envision how the industry could operate after deregulation. Now, he's helping supply chain professionals envision how they can operate after the end of Cheap Oil.

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals recently recognized Taylor for his lifetime commitment to finding practical solutions to intractable problems as well as for sharing that knowledge with others. At its 2010 Annual Global Conference in San Diego, the organization presented Taylor with its 45th Distinguished Service Award.

Taylor currently serves as principal of Awake! Consulting, an organization he founded to encourage supply chain professionals to get involved in shaping national energy policy. It was fitting then that Taylor used his acceptance speech at the conference to remind those in attendance that we are facing the unprecedented challenge of growing the economy while simultaneously reducing our dependence on oil.

But his message was not all gloom and doom. Taylor remains optimistic about the supply chain profession's ability to respond to this challenge. "There are incredible opportunities available for reducing waste and conservation," he said. "In that way, supply chain improvements are better than new oil fields."

In fact, the end of cheap oil presents an enormous opportunity for supply chain professionals, according to Taylor. "You are a prerequisite for survival, and you will deliver as you always have," he said.

CSCMP also recognized achievements in the academic field, handing out the following awards at the conference:

• The Doctoral Dissertation Award to Matthias Ehrgott for "Social and Environmental Sustainability in Supplier Management—A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on Antecedents and Outcomes."
• The Bernard J. La Londe Best Paper Award for the most valuable paper presented in the Journal of Business Logistics to Auburn University Professor C. Clifford Defee and University of Tennessee Professors Terry L. Esper, John T. Mentzer, and Theodore P. Stank for "The Role of Followers in Supply Chains."
• The E. Grosvenor Plowman Award for the best research presented at the Supply Chain Management Educators Conference to Chad Allred of Brigham Young University, Amydee M. Fawcett of Lateral Line Analytics, Stanley E. Fawcett of Brigham Young University, Gregory M. Magnan of Seattle University, and Cynthia Wallin of Brigham Young University for "Evaluating Information Technology as a Supply Chain Collaboration Enabler: Insights from the Resource-Based View."