ISM World 2025: Awards Gala a Celebration of the Profession and Its People
Craig Reed, CPSM, vice president, global procurement and CPO at Thermo Fisher Scientific, is the 2025 recipient of the J. Shipman Gold Medal Award, presented by Institute for Supply Management® for career achievement. (Yannick Apers Photography)
A packed room of talent — practitioners, executives and students — celebrated the supply management profession on Monday night at the ISM Awards Gala.
More than 50 individuals and companies — the best of the best of the profession — were honored during the event, held as part of ISM World 2025, Institute for Supply Management®’s (ISM®) Annual Conference at Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando, Florida.
The most prestigious award in the profession, the J. Shipman Gold Medal Award, was presented to Craig Reed, CPSM, vice president, global procurement and CPO at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
“This year’s winner has been a leader that invests in people and innovation and helps transform teams in a way that leaves a lasting impact,” said Camille Batiste, investor and executive coach and former senior vice president, global supply chain and procurement at ADM.
She co-emceed the event with Jimmy Anklesaria, the 2022 J. Shipman Award winner and founder of the Anklesaria Group. “Throughout his nearly 30-year career in supply chain and procurement, he has been a dedicated thought leader,” Anklesaria said of Reed. “His numerous achievements and accolades speak volumes about his contribution.”
Reed, who previously held positions at Corteva Agriscience, DuPont and Delta Air Lines, among others, said, “As a young professional coming into this space, I realized that it’s not just about achieving in your own company, but it’s leading from the community in which you are part of. That’s the procurement community, and that’s what makes ISM so phenomenal.
He continued, “This is a practitioners’ organization. It is truly about us doing for us and the fact that we get a chance to lift each other up in ways that are so incredibly phenomenal. … I've seen this profession grow significantly. It is extremely important what we do every day.”
Awards presentations were interspersed with dinner and conversations. A pre-event social hour offered time for networking.
The Gala also honored:
The 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars, global emerging leaders across various industries and supply management disciplines. Erika Espinosa, wells category manager at Chevron in Houston, was honored with the Megawatt Award. Other 30 Under 30 award winners represented such companies as Amazon, GSK, Caterpillar, United States Steel Corporation and Wayfair.
The 2025 R. Gene Richter Scholars, who make up the program’s 22nd class. Each recipient receives US$15,000 in education funding, the opportunity to work with a junior (a previous Richter Scholar) and senior (company executive) mentors, and complimentary registration to ISM World 2025.
The recipients are Aiden Anderson of the University of South Carolina, Colleen Andrews and Jai Kozar-Lewis of Michigan State University, Lauren McGuirk of Grand Valley State University, McKenna Schrenk of Pennsylvania State University, and Nicole Sherman of Western Michigan University.
ISM Trailblazer Award winners, companies across the profession that have made an impact and set an example for other organizations. Honored companies include Cipla, IHG Hotels & Resorts, GSK, Wesco International and Velcro Companies, in such categories as category management excellence, innovation and logistics excellence.