Douglas Burke and Andrew Spicher Receive R. Gene Richter Scholarship Award
Douglas Burke and Andrew Spicher, Supply Chain and Information Systems majors at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, were chosen by the R. Gene and Nancy D. Richter Foundation as two of six students around the country to receive the 2008 R. Gene Richter Scholarship Award.
The $5,000 scholarship is presented annually to senior supply chain students based on high-achieving academic records, strong leadership skills, high ethical standards, and a commitment to a career in supply chain management. Nancy Richter, president of the Richter Foundation, interviews the finalists who are selected from the initial pool of applicants, and then two high-level supply chain management executives interview the finalists and choose the ultimate winners.
Along with the tuition support, Richter Scholars also are enrolled in a mentoring program and invited to attend with all expenses paid the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) International Conference in St. Louis, where they will be honored at a special Scholarship Presentation Awards Banquet on May 5. This year Norm Aggon will represent Smeal with Douglas and Andrew at the ISM Conference.
Winners of the R. Gene Richter Scholarship are awarded tuition assistance and are enrolled in a mentoring program where they are paired with an established executive from a Fortune 500 company. The scholarship winners are also invited to a Power Conference for executive leadership in supply chain management one year after graduation and upon gaining real-world experience. Richter Scholars attend the ISM Conference with all expenses paid two years later as well.
Throughout his career in supply chain, Gene Richter led three corporate teams to Purchasing Magazine's Medal of Professional Excellence. At Black & Decker, he fine-tuned strategies of global sourcing, long-term agreements, and centralization of key commodities. At Hewlett-Packard, he worked with a team to develop written sourcing strategies and to negotiate strategic alliances with worldwide leading-edge suppliers. And at IBM, his team formed customer solutions procurement, set up a technology convergence office to tap into suppliers' technical know-how, and moved the purchasing process to the Internet.
The SC&IS Department has been participating with the Richter Scholarship Award for four years. Douglas and Andrew are the fourth and fifth SC&IS recipients in those four years. Former recipients are Tania Mirabel Santiago, Marcio Oliveira, and Leslie Hubbard. Tania, our Richter Scholar in the Class of 2005 and a Penn State grad in 2006, is now a consultant with IBM. Marcio, our Richter Scholar in the Class of 2006 and a Penn State grad in 2006, is currently employed by Merrill Lynch. Leslie, our Richter Scholar in the Class of 2007 and a Penn State grad in 2007, is currently employed by Deloitte & Touche.
