WMU students take advantage of unique opportunity

Students with executives

Students connected with industry executives including John Sculley, former Apple CEO and president of Pepsico, and Dawn Tiura, CEO of the Sourcing Industry Group.

College is about opportunity. And during spring semester, opportunity knocked for a group of students given the chance to showcase their talent with leading executives and to highlight the quality of their Haworth College of Business education.

Four integrated supply management students interviewed with the Sourcing Industry Group, vying for just 15 invitations nationally to the annual Sourcing Industry Group Global Summit, which brings together prominent supply chain managers and the country’s best students for a conference and networking opportunities.

All four Western students made the cut.

“Finding out that Western would be representing 25 percent of the invited students was truly remarkable,” says Savannah Fragoso, noting that students from Ohio State University, Michigan State University, Arizona State University, Wright State University, University of South Carolina, University of San Diego and North Carolina State University were also invited.

“The Summit was packed with presentations from industry professionals, breakout sessions, thought leadership roundtables, peer-to-peer discussions, and networking at every moment possible,” says Jordan Berning, this year’s ISM WMU Presidential Scholar. Berning says the WMU students participated in every opportunity and even met John Sculley, entrepreneur and investor in high-tech startups and former CEO of Apple and President of Pepsico, and Dawn Tiura, CEO of SIG.

“Our students interacted with and were mentored by very high-level managers and they proudly represented WMU,” says Dr. Sime Curkovic, professor of supply chain management. “Now these managers know that some of the most promising future leaders in supply chain management will be coming from WMU."

Emma Stuba adds that the sessions provided opportunities to learn more about the field and take part in discussions. “Due to the contemporary nature of the ISM program, many of the topics being discussed are topics we examine in our classes and talk to professors about. I felt comfortable asking questions and talking about procurement and sourcing with the industry professionals, which is not always easy for students.”

Aaron McClendon, who made news this year for earning two top national scholarships in supply chain, says the group had numerous opportunities to showcase the unique curriculum of the WMU program. “Companies understood we were in a top program due to the fact that we were invited to attend the Executive Summit but they may not have known specifics about our program” says McClendon. 

“If someone was not familiar with our program, we provided them with more information about Western’s ISM program and how our curriculum sets us apart from the other top supply chain programs,” adds Fragoso. “These executives were very impressed that our program focuses on each aspect of supply chain.”

The students took the opportunity and represented the WMU program at the highest levels.

“For the first time, WMU—because of our top 5 national ranking—was asked to nominate students to participate and join the inner circle of SIG members cultivating talent from top schools,” adds Curkovic. “It was an amazing networking opportunity for very deserving students.”