ISM student wins $3,000 scholarship
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Western Michigan University student Heather Fabian is the latest integrated supply management student to be awarded a statewide scholarship from the Transportation Club of Detroit.
The $3,000 scholarship recognizes Fabian’s academic and professional achievements as well as personal qualities that are necessary to succeed in the supply chain field.
"I was excited to learn that I had been awarded the scholarship," says Fabian. "I felt extremely fortunate to be receiving financial assistance from such a prominent organization."
Heather Fabian
Fabian is a client lead with the ISM program's Bronco Force initiative, a student and faculty consultancy where teams offer expertise to address supply chain challenges for companies. As part of the initiative, Fabian works at local company Impact Label Corporation, where she and fellow student consultants have completed five projects to date.
She has also worked with University officials on evaluating whether WMU should source a car-sharing service on campus. She is a member of the Lee Honors College and an active volunteer in Bronco Buddies, a program where college students interact with middle school students to answer any questions they have about college and to help them prepare for their college search.
Fabian is just the sort of student that the Detroit Transportation Club seeks out for this award, according to Ken Jones, director of education and applied solutions and instructor of marketing.
"Heather possesses a strong understanding of quantitative supply chain tools but also exhibits truly remarkable qualitative skills around managing people and change. As a student leader of multiple lean manufacturing Bronco Force projects at Impact Label Corporation, the softer skills serve her extremely well. We're thankful that the Transportation Club of Detroit sees the potential in her that we all see every day."
Fabian is currently working on her honors thesis, which will focus on how the law affects supply chain and ultimately how supply chain can improve the field of law. She is studying for her LSAT exam and plans to attend law school within the next two to three years to continue in this area of study. Immediately after graduation she plans to pursue a career working for a global company with her sights set on a position overseas.
About the program
The ISM program is ranked No. 5 in the nation for undergraduate supply chain education. As part of this ranking by Gartner, the program was identified as the leader in undergraduate curriculum, citing the program's blend of engineering, information technology and business education. This spring, the program's coursework received a No. 2 ranking in the nation by Software Advice for its emphasis on teaching technology, software and quantitative tools in its undergraduate program.