PMA Foundation Selects Tip Murphy Scholars

The Produce Marketing Association Foundation for Industry Talent has selected Nick Mascari and Tommy Rowlands as the winners of the fifth annual Tip Murphy Scholarship for Leadership Excellence.

Mascari, new business development leader and organic buyer for Indianapolis Fruit Company, and Rowlands, sales and account manager of Shelby, Ohio-based R.S. Hanline and Company, will receive scholarships from the program, posthumously established in honor of industry veteran Terrence "Tip" Murphy, which provides scholarships for professional development to promising produce industry leaders.

“I am honored to be able to represent Indianapolis Fruit and the industry as one of this year’s Tip Murphy Scholarship recipients,” Mascari said. “I look forward to the opportunity to learn from my peers and the industry’s best to help me build on my leadership skills that will allow me to be a positive change agent in my company and our great industry.”

Each scholarship covers registration fees and associated hotel expenses for any of the PMA Foundation’s professional development events. Both recipients have chosen to pursue the Emerged Leaders Program, which offers intensive knowledge and relationship-building designed to increase performance, focus abilities, and equip tomorrow's leaders with critical management and thinking skills.

"I plan to help honor [Mr. Murphy’s] legacy through a great experience with the [PMA Foundation’s] Emerging Leaders Program in 2013,” said Rowlands. “I am also very proud to represent the R.S. Hanline Company and look forward to both learning and sharpening the leadership skills necessary to succeed in today's business climate."

The scholarship is funded by supporters of the Tip Murphy Legacy Fund, an account established by friends and colleagues of Murphy to honor his life and career, and managed by the PMA Foundation as part of its mission to attract, develop and retain talent for the produce industry.