Dr. Bill Hardgrave began serving as the 13th President of the University of Memphis on April 1, 2022. Prior to joining the University of Memphis, Hardgrave served four years as Auburn University’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and eight years as dean of Auburn’s Harbert College of Business. He also spent 17 years at the University of Arkansas in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, eventually holding the Edwin & Karlee Bradberry Chair in Information Systems. While there, he founded and ran the Information Technology Research Institute and the RFID Research Center. Hardgrave is an accomplished scholar—having published several books and more than 100 articles—and is considered a thought leader in the field of RFID. He has worked with numerous companies, including Walmart, Amazon, Macy’s, Nike, Intel, and Microsoft, among others, and is a highly sought-after speaker—delivering more than 200 invited talks across the globe, to a total audience in excess of 30,000. In recognition of his efforts in RFID, Hardgrave has received the Ted Williams Award from AIM Global as the most influential researcher in the field of RFID and the Special Achievement award from RFID Journal for his overall impact on the field.
