Dr. Daniel F. Jennings, the founding director of the Master of Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University, died Oct. 5 at his home in Dallas. He was 84.

Jennings, who also was the Andrew Rader Professor of Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M, retired in 2019 after working at the university for 22 years. Before that, he was the W.A. Mays Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at Baylor University.

His corporate career includes engineering, corporate planning and managerial positions in both manufacturing and distribution, with stops at Armstrong World Industries, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp., Olinkraft Inc., Boise Cascade Corp. and Certainteed Corp. in locations in the United States, Canada and South America.

Thanks to creating the Master of Industrial Distribution program, Jennings leaves behind an impressive legacy in the field.

Texas A&M’s undergraduate program now has 1,000-plus students, and the MID program — which Jennings founded in 2001 with 12 students — now has about 100 professionals, according to Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam, associate director of the master’s program.

Some of the industry’s leading executives graduated from the program, which routinely graduates both established and up-and-coming leaders across distribution.

Read more about Jennings’ life in his online obituary.