“Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming,” David Bowie said. Well, the future was there to hear, see and celebrate in Orlando, as the crowd at the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) annual ISM World 2025 applauded and raised glasses to the 2025 recipients of the R. Gene Richter Scholarship.
This award is presented annually to the top supply management students from across the United States, with recipients determined based upon a submitted essay, cumulative grade point average, demonstrated leadership, extracurricular involvement and overall achievements as an undergraduate professional, including through internships and case competitions. Here in 2025, the 22nd class of Richter Scholars is Aiden Anderson of the University of South Carolina, Colleen Andrews and Jai Kozar-Lewis of Michigan State University, Lauren McGuirk of Grand Valley State University, McKenna Schrenk of Pennsylvania State University and Nicole Sherman of Western Michigan University.
Photos of Winners: ISM
"There’s always such a great wave of emotion when the Scholars are announced and then honored at ISM World each year,” says ECLARO Co-Founder Paul Sheridan (shown at top left at the 2025 ISM World gala with Elizabeth Richter and Tom Sheridan). “There’s a sense of pride that has continued to resonate since the scholarship was established in 2004, and everyone at ECLARO is thrilled we can be part of this incredible program each year.”
Since Professor Robert Monczka, R. David Nelson, Theresa Metty, Jimmy Anklesaria, Bob Calderoni, Dennie Norman, Linda Obrec and Nancy Richter came together over 20 years ago to organize a scholarship named for the late R. Gene Richter—a renowned pioneer and innovator in the world of procurement—this honor has become the largest national scholarship program in the field of supply management.
“The Scholars bring an incredible amount of achievements and talent,” said Elizabeth Richter, CPSM, CPSD, program manager at Google, and trustee of the R. Gene and Nancy D. Richter Foundation, “and that’s what the program is all about.”
The award recipients were honored at an exclusive executive luncheon and at the ISM Awards Gala on June 2, but the impact will resonate well beyond the festivities. The R. Gene and Nancy D. Richter Foundation and the R. Gene Richter Scholarship fund at ISM provides a $15,000 scholarship ($7,500 for December graduates) to individuals seeking education in supply management, supply chain management or procurement. The recipients are also given access to an executive mentor and leader in the profession and a former Richter scholar as a junior mentor.
“In addition to the monetary award, one of the most powerful aspects of the R. Gene Richter Scholarship Program is the mentoring opportunities it creates, and the long-lasting relationships it inspires,” says ECLARO Co-Founder Tom Sheridan. “Every year we see first-hand how these connections grow deeper and stronger over time. At ECLARO we like to say that we measure success in decades, and the success of this program can without doubt be measured in the years-long relationships it has helped forge—and, of course, in the futures it inspires as well.”
Congratulations from all of us at ECLARO to all the 2025 recipients of the R. Gene Richter Scholarship!