Two Esteemed Professors to Retire from the Graduate School of Management
David Woodruff and Hollis Skaife conclude decades of impact in operations research, accounting and academic leadership
Two internationally renowned senior faculty members at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management—Distinguished Professor David Woodruff and Professor Hollis Skaife—will retire from their academic roles on July 1, 2025. Each leaves a legacy of scholarship, mentorship and service that has shaped the School and influenced their respective fields.
David Woodruff Retires After 35 Years of Innovation in Operations Research
INFORMS Fellow, award-winning scholar, and dedicated teacher leaves enduring legacy in analytics and decision-making
After 35 years at the School, Distinguished Professor David Woodruff is retiring as a globally recognized expert in computational decision-making, operations research and energy planning.
Woodruff joined the Graduate School of Management in 1990 and has since authored or co-authored more than 80 papers published in top journals. He has held editorial leadership roles, including editor-in-chief of the INFORMS Journal on Computing, and contributed to several other major operations management journals.
In 2024, Woodruff was named an INFORMS Fellow—one of the highest honors in operations research and analytics—for his contributions to stochastic optimization, open-source software development and service to the field. He is one of the creators of Pyomo, a widely used optimization tool that received the INFORMS Computing Society Prize and an R&D 100 Award.
“The INFORMS Fellow award inspires me to remain productive in Emeritus status at UC Davis, where I have been very well supported throughout my career.”
— Distinguished Professor David Woodruff
Woodruff has taught nine MBA courses, including Data Analysis for Managers, Managing for Operational Excellence, and various electives. He was honored by students as Electives Teacher of the Year four times.
He earned his Ph.D. in industrial engineering and management sciences from Northwestern University and holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University.
"I am going to continue doing research and am looking forward to retirement so I can work all the time,” Woodruff said, tongue in cheek.
More seriously, he added: "UC Davis has been a great place for me in part because of the culture that assumes cross-campus collaborations are the norm."
Learn more about Professor Woodruff
“Hollis and David are complete scholars—top researchers, dedicated teachers and steeped in service to the field and the UC Davis community. I am confident they will continue to guide us through the example they have set as faculty members at the GSM.
— Dean H. Rao Unnava
Accounting Professor Hollis Skaife Caps Her Career by Launching UC Davis’ First Business Major
Renowned for accounting expertise and setting best practices, Skaife leaves a mark on teaching, research and program development
Professor Hollis Skaife will retire after more than a decade of leadership at the School and a career that has shaped global accounting standards, research and education.
Skaife joined the faculty in 2013 after 16 years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. A former practicing CPA, she is a leading scholar in international financial reporting and corporate governance, with a focus on internal controls and auditing. From 2009 to 2011, she served on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Advisory Council, helping guide principles adopted by global companies.
Skaife has published more than 35 articles in top-tier accounting journals and served on the editorial boards of leading accounting publications, international research panels and chaired professional committees and doctoral research consortia.
She earned her Ph.D. in accounting with a minor in finance and an M.A. from the University of Iowa, and her B.A. from Central College in Iowa.
At UC Davis, Skaife has taught accounting at all levels and twice earned the Professor of the Year award. As academic director of the Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) program from 2019 to 2022, she helped shape the School’s accounting curriculum and student experience.
Most recently, Skaife chaired the UC Davis Business Major Program Committee, collaborating across campus to launch the first undergraduate business major in the university’s history, which welcomes its first cohort this fall.
“UC Davis has a wonderful reputation for putting students first, and with the new specializations encompassed as part of the business major, there will be even more learning opportunities for undergraduate students.”
— Professor Hollis Skaife
“In retirement, I look forward to continuing to teach accounting to students enrolled in academic programs as well as others by serving on for-profit and non-profit boards and committees.”
Jokingly, Skaife exclaimed, “I’ll keep trying to teach the public that accounting is more than debits equal credits.”