WMU News

Jewel-Osco executive to be honored at food marketing conference

March 19, 1998

KALAMAZOO -- Edward F. Buron, senior vice president of human resources for Jewel-Osco Stores, will be honored Monday, March 30, for nearly 40 years of service in forging links between higher education and the food marketing profession.

Buron is slated to receive the Adrian Trimpe Distinguished Service Award during the opening evening's events of the 33rd annual Food Marketing Conference March 30-31 at Western Michigan University. The event is expected to attract 500 to 600 food marketing executives from across the Midwest for discussions on "Preparing for the New Millennium."

The award was established in 1996 and is named for the founder of WMU's nationally-known Food Marketing Program in the Haworth College of Business. Buron has been involved with the program since its inception nearly 40 years ago, becoming a charter member of the program's Food Industry Advisory Board while working as a store manager in Gary, Ind.

Since then, Buron, who works at Jewel-Osco's Melrose Park, Ill., headquarters, has been instrumental in forging relationships between the WMU program and high schools and community colleges in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. He also set up scholarship and co-op programs for Jewel employees and their children. Because of his efforts, more than 350 Jewel employees have been enrolled in the WMU Food Marketing Program.

Buron began his career with Jewel Food Stores in 1951, while attending high school in Chicago. After graduating from DePaul University in 1957, he began advancing through the company's ranks, moving from produce manager to store manager before joining Jewel's personnel team. He earned a master's degree in industrial relations from Loyola University in 1971.

The Adrian Trimpe Distinguished Service Award is presented annually at the Food Marketing Conference. It is given to individuals who have dedicated extraordinary time and effort to the support and enrichment of WMU's Food Marketing Program and its students. The program, one of only four such programs in the United States, prepares students for employment in wholesale distribution, sales and marketing and retail management.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland; cheryl.roland@wmich.edu


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