BGSU supply chain student honored for fourth straight year

Out of more than 6,000 supply chain and operations management student members worldwide, a BGSU student has been the recipient of the prestigious APICS Student Voluntary Service Award since 2013. This is one of the most esteemed awards presented annually by APICS, a leading professional association for supply chain and operations management in the world.      

The 2016 Student Voluntary Service Award was presented to Katherine Eboch, an MBA student who is specializing in supply chain management. This award chooses one supply chain management student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to volunteering to the local supply chain management association chapter and community.  

“I am very honored to receive this prestigious award and to be the fourth consecutive BGSU student to be awarded the APICS Student Voluntary Service Award,” Eboch said.  “After completing my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama and working for a few years, I saw the importance of business, specifically supply chain management, in the arts as well as the importance of networking.  When I decided to return to school for my MBA, I was determined to get involved and maximize my experience at BGSU, which is why I joined the Supply Chain Management Association.

“Looking to the future, I plan to take what I have learned from BGSU about supply chain management and incorporate it into the work I hope to do with nonprofits and arts organizations.”

Among Eboch’s many leadership roles, she served as the president of the BGSU student chapter of Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA) last spring, and under her leadership helped BGSU finish its 11th consecutive “gold” year and earned its seventh straight “platinum” award maintaining SCMA as one of the top 10 chapters in the world.  

Dr. Janet Hartley, professor and director of the BGSU Supply Chain Management Institute, recommended Eboch for the award.

“Under her leadership the SCMA hosted professional development speakers from Diebold, Expeditors, and Marathon Petroleum and toured Bittersweet Farms, a non-profit organization that assists autistic adults.  Eboch serves as a mentor to freshman and sophomore members to help them develop the skills needed to take on leadership positions in SCMA.  Katherine enthusiastically promotes the benefits of being a member of the SCMA and APICS to other students, prospective students and alumni.”   

As the organization’s president, Eboch worked with the SCMA board to plan and execute other activities ranging from recruitment, professional development, fundraising and social events and helped streamline processes of the organization.  

Besides SCMA, Eboch serves in a leadership role for the BGSU Women in Business Leadership student chapter as its vice president of communications and marketing.

Drawn to serve others, Eboch is a board member at large of the Bowling Green Rotary Club where she took on the role of liaison between the professional chapter and BGSU’s RotarAct (the affiliated student chapter). She was recently selected for the “40 under 40” award for Rotary International and attended the inaugural Legacy Zone Young Professionals Summit in Cleveland. Prior to studying at BGSU, Eboch was a member of the Hartford, Connecticut, chapter of Rotary where she was named Rotarian of the Year by the Hartford Chapter.

The three previous BGSU winners of the APICS Student Voluntary Service Award include the following:

2015—Rob Everard

2014—Chelsea Folk

2013—Beth Albers

BGSU also had a student earn the same award in 2009, Amanda Braddock.