The John F. & Marguerite Kilmartin and Joseph Vesce endowed scholarships were awarded to seniors Nicole Batiuk, Tim Beach and Eileen Corrigan, and junior Janet Ishikawa. The Howard & Mary Lester Scholarship was awarded to senior Kelly Broderick and juniors Bryant Peterson and Natalie Warga. The Achabal Family Scholarship was awarded to Eryn Holl. Eryn Holl and Natalie Warga also received the Wal*Mart scholarship and Bryant Peterson received a scholarship from Walgreens.

At the recent 20th year RMI celebration, Institute Director Dale Achabal announced three new endowed scholarships in the names of Jack Kilmartin, Ellen Magnin Newman and Philip Schlein. “The scholarships were established to recognize the tremendous commitment these three individuals have made to the Institute as founding Board members and industry leaders,” said Achabal. “We all feel very honored and fortunate to have received their advice and counsel over the last 20 years.” The first Newman Scholar is Nicole Batiuk, the Kilmartin Scholar is Eryn Holl and the Schlein Scholar is Tim Beach. Initial funding was provided from profits earned through management development programs offered by the Retail Management Institute.

Additional scholarships will be awarded next year through the recently established RMI Alumni Association, chaired by RMI alumnus and Advisory Board member Mark Brashear (‘83), President of Faconnable at Nordstrom. The RMI Advisory Board is also committed to increasing the total scholarship endowment to $2.0 million to help meet the financial needs of current and future student scholars.