According to The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation, Alexander Finigan from Columbia University and Tatijana Stafets from The University of Chicago have been awarded the Charles Grossman Graduate Scholarship. The scholarships were presented on May 24 during ICSC's RECon, the global retail real estate convention.
This is the first year that the award was presented as the Charles Grossman Graduate Scholarship. It was previously known simply as the Graduate Scholarship. The ICSC Foundation renamed the award in the latter half of 2009 after the late Charles Grossman who served as the Foundation's chairman from 2006-2007 and was very instrumental in taking the Foundation in its current direction.
The award provides the recipients with a $10,000 academic scholarship. Additionally, new this year, the award afford these students with the opportunity to attend RECon through a grant for all travel expenses. The scholarships are available to full time graduate students, who are also ICSC members that indicate a preference for a career in retail real estate.
"The Foundation recognized that attending RECon is an invaluable experience that will expose students to unmatched networking opportunities as well as current industry innovations," said Michael Kercheval, president and CEO of ICSC. "This newly added benefit optimizes the award, giving future industry leaders the ability to learn about current challenges and prepare for future opportunities," Kercheval said.