Haworth College of Business

WMU students awarded national scholarship for women leaders in supply chain

Two Western Michigan University integrated supply management students, Madison Dober and Alexandra Henson, have been honored with a scholarship from Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education (AWESOME). The AWESOME Excellence in Education Scholarship is a $5,000 award.

The scholarship was created in 2013 to provide university women enrolled in full-time supply chain degree programs with the opportunity to attend the AWESOME Symposium and the CSCMP EDGE Conference. The WMU Haworth students join a select group of just 20 recipients to receive the award this year—Dober and Henson are the first WMU students to receive the scholarship. They now join a cohort of AWESOME Scholars, representing all years of the program, who are forming connections with each other and gaining career insights through the organization’s programming.

“The women in the WMU ISM program tend to be our best students,” says Dr. Sime Curkovic, professor of supply chain. “They are driven, multifaceted and job-ready. The opportunities are endless for our women students, and employers keep asking for more of our talented female graduates. Madison and Alexandra in particular have demonstrated exemplary leadership within our supply chain program and will continue to do so in their professional careers. Rewarding students like these is an opportunity to build a pipeline of women who will become the next generation of supply chain leaders.”

“I was speechless when I learned that the AWESOME advisory board members believed I was worthy to be one of 20 women across the country selected to receive this scholarship,” says Henson. “It was truly one of the best moments of my life. I will now join an esteemed group of women in supply chain, and I could not be happier. I attribute all my successes to the support I have received from the WMU ISM program. This supply chain program has challenged me, but in turn, I have been rewarded in multiple ways. Becoming an ISM major was one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

“I feel empowered to be a woman in supply chain,” says Dober. “AWESOME’s vision inspires me because it connects aspiring student leaders with experienced executives. I am excited to be a part of this amazing organization. The ISM program has presented me with many experiential learning opportunities over the last two years. I am so thankful for these one-of-a-kind experiences I have had access to even before the conclusion of my second year at WMU. I would not be where I am today without my family, friends and the incredible ISM faculty.”

Recipients

Madison Dober is a junior from Lake Orion, Michigan, majoring in integrated supply management and minoring in business analytics and expects to graduate in spring 2024. In fall 2021, she was part of the student team that won the General Motors/Wayne State University Supply Chain Case Competition. She has served as a supply chain intern at Consumers Energy and will be working as a manufacturing supply chain intern at General Motors this summer, upon her return from Germany as part of a study abroad program focusing on global negotiation. She is involved with several student organizations on campus, including Supply Chain Management Association, where she acts as executive vice president, and Delta Sigma Pi, of which she previously served as social chair in spring of 2022. She has also been named to the Dean’s List every semester she has been at Western.

Alexandra Henson is a junior from Allen Park, Michigan. She is majoring in integrated supply management with a minor in business analytics and general business and expects to graduate in summer 2023. She has participated in two national case competitions: the 3M National Case Competition and the General Motors/Wayne State University Supply Chain Case Competition—in which she and her team placed first in fall 2021. She was a teaching assistant for the Business Preparation course in fall 2021. She has completed an internship with The J.M. Smucker Company in logistics. She is currently the president of the Supply Chain Management Association, where she has been on the executive board since her first year at WMU. She has been on the Dean’s List for six consecutive semesters and has won two prestigious scholarships in the ISM program.