RILA Announces Recipients of the 2011 Logistics Student Scholarship Program

Arlington, VA - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced the recipients of the 2011 Logistics Student Scholarship program today. The Logistics Student Scholarship program is designed to award students interested in a career in supply chain/logistics with the opportunity to attend the premier educational conference for supply chain professionals with an interest in retail and logistics.

The 2011 Logistics Student Scholarship recipients are: Sam Bradley-Kelly from the University of Washington, Cathy Tse from Dalhousie University, Anthony Garwood from Michigan State University, Cassandra Furnival from Penn State University, Elizabeth Boyd from Auburn University and Michele Hung from University of Florida.

As a 2011 scholarship recipient, award recipients are paired with a mentor from a sponsoring organization who will share his/her expertise and assist the student in putting together a portion of a student presentation. This year¹s scholarship recipients will collaboratively present a session to conference attendees at the 2011 Logistics Conference.

This year¹s mentors and sponsoring companies are: Jody Fitzpatrick, associate vice president, international transportation & operations support, Canadian Tire Corporation; Sherry Harriman, divisional vice president, operations ­ Florida & Puerto Rico, Wal-Mart Stores; Tony Chiarello, president & CEO, American Shipping Group; Steve Buccella, vice president, corporate sales & business development, Dematic Corporation; Patrick Ahern, vice president, international, National Retail Systems (NRS); Timothy Nolan, vice president, customer development, NYK Logistics ­ Americas.

³Congratulations to all of this year¹s recipients and thank you to all our participating sponsors and mentors,² said RILA President Sandy Kennedy.

³This program has been a great success in both encouraging today¹s youth to take an active interest in the careers available to them in the supply chain and logistics fields, while also providing our attendees insight on the current industry issues from the perspective of its future leaders‹today¹s students,² Kennedy concluded.

RILA¹s Logistics conference is the premier educational event for retail supply chain professionals. This is an unparalleled opportunity for students to gain firsthand experience with the inner workings and relevant issues of the industry, as well as to meet some of the retail industry¹s most influential and innovative leaders.

Through the scholarship program, RILA and its members hope to inspire an interest in and educate undergraduate college students about the many opportunities available to them with a career in supply chain management for retail.

RILA is the trade association of the world's largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than

$1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad.