RALEIGH, NC – The RSPA (Retail Solutions Providers Association) announced the 2026-27 RSPA Scholarship Program recipients at RetailNOW 2026, held July 26-28 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas. This upcoming school year, 69 students associated with RSPA member companies will receive financial support to continue their post-secondary education. 

The newly selected 2026-27 RSPA Scholarship Program recipients include: 

Dave & Norma McCarthy Family Scholarship ($10,000 scholarship) 

• Josie Howell, University of Texas 

Curt Kennington Memorial Scholarship ($5,000 scholarship) 

• Ansley Martin, University of South Carolina 

Stanley and Shirley Hayman Founder’s Scholarship ($3,500 scholarship) 

• Emily Lesniak, Colorado State University 

Steve Cuntz Memorial Scholarship ($3,500 scholarship) 

• Andrew Howell, University of Missouri 

Ann Maynard “Butterfly Effect” Memorial Scholarship (two $3,000 scholarships) 

• Sneka Murugadass, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology 

• Aditya Iyer, University of Texas 

David A. Bowles Memorial Scholarship ($2,500 scholarship) 

• Ashleigh Custer, SUNY Brockport 

Mendiratta Agrawal Scholarship ($2,500 scholarship) 

• Nathan Flachman, Anderson University 

Datacap Systems Scholarship ($2,500 scholarship) 

• Harris Breitling, Wake Forest University 

John B. Lockington Memorial Scholarship ($2,500 scholarship) 

• Taylor Jacobs,  Ohio State University 

Danny Vaughan Memorial Scholarship ($2,500 scholarship) 

• Makena Wyngaard, Furman University 

RSPA Anniversary Scholarship ($2,500 scholarship) 

• Kaitlyn Mills, University of Florida 

RSPA General Scholarships ($1,500-$2,000 scholarships) 

• Nikita Aistov, University of Sydney 

• Samantha Ambrose, Millikin University 

• Matthew Andrews, University of South Carolina 

• Charlie Atterholm, University of California, Santa Barbara 

• Arianna Baxter, University of Calgary 

• Layla Born, Northern Kentucky University 

• Peyton Colin, Georgia College and State University 

• Samuel Cowan, California Poly San Luis Obispo 

• Ryan Cowie, Clemson University 

• Kelly Cowie, University of Georgia 

• Addison DiDonato, College of Charleston 

• Allison Dilbert, Thomas More University 

• Evalynn Fultz, Messiah University 

• Ivanna Fultz, Messiah University 

• Abigail Gorski, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 

• Aliza Gosman, Virginia Tech 

• Ezra Gosman, Virginia Tech 

• Connor Goughnour, Florida State University 

• James Gribbin, SUNY Albany 

• Areeb Hamirani, Georgia State University 

• Colin Hardjowasito, Simon Fraser University 

• Emma Hitts, Wayne State College 

• River Johnstone, San Jose State University 

• Ashley Jones, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 

• Nicholas Julian, Abilene Christian University 

• Courtney Julian, New College of Florida 

• Lily Knute, Northwest Technical College 

• Bradley Lucas, University of South Carolina 

• Kylie Malott, Eastern Kentucky University 

• Reagan Maudlin, University of Missouri-Columbia 

• Cadence Maynard, North Carolina State University 

• Nathan McFall, Milwaukee School of Engineering 

• Rebecca McNamara, Covenant College 

• Madison Medley, University of Oklahoma 

• Vittoria Mitchell, McMaster University 

• Nabaa Naeem, NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) 

• Benjamin O’Keefe, Elmira College 

• Makenna Oswald, University of Nebraska-Omaha 

• Kaitlyn Oswald, University of Iowa 

• Charlie Overton, Northern Kentucky University 

• Tony Palomino, DePaul University 

• Cooper Parks, Ferris State University 

• Rudra Patel, Ohio State University 

• Adelaine Peterson, University of Cincinnati 

• Vanessa Razo, Western Illinois University 

• Greta Reed, Syracuse University 

• Luke Seyer, Southeast Missouri State University 

• Clare Slocum, Bellarmine University 

• Kate Slocum, Morehead State University 

• Rylan Smith, Colorado State University 

• Isabella Stetz, Rutgers University 

• Lilly Stocker, University of Kentucky 

• Lucas Swanson, University of Arizona 

• Kylie Tester, The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences 

• Supriya Uniyal, Purdue University West Lafayette 

• Madeline Unruh, University of Rochester 

• Colston Wisotzki, Fairfield University 

Since the inception of the RSPA Scholarship Program, the RSPA has awarded over 2,000 merit scholarships and over $3 million to families of member companies. The children and grandchildren of RSPA members are eligible for merit-based scholarships to help ease the costs associated with post-secondary education. 

Scholarship Program Updates from RetailNOW 2026 
During the RetailNOW 2026 General Session, the family of longtime retail technology industry member David A. Bowles announced the establishment of the David A. Bowles Memorial Scholarship in his honor. The scholarship will provide an annual award of $2,500. For more details on the David A. Bowles Memorial Scholarship, follow this link. 

During his RSPA Retail Technology Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Bob Bauer of BMC announced the John B. Lockington Memorial Scholarship plans to expand in 2027 through a matching gift challenge. Between now and Dec. 31, BMC, who founded the Lockington Scholarship in 2023, will match donations to the scholarship up to $25,000.  

 If a total of $50,000 is raised – $25,000 in community donations and $25,000 from BMC – the scholarship will be expanded from one $2,500 annual award to two $2,500 annual awards. For more details, follow this link. 

RSPA Scholarship Board Chair Chuck Prince made two announcements on the RetailNOW main stage: 

• The Stanley and Shirley Hayman Founder’s Scholarship, the first established scholarship in the history of the RSPA, will be expanded to a $4,500 annual scholarship beginning in 2027. Earlier this year, the Hayman Family Partnership which includes Stanley’s and Shirley’s children and eight grandchildren, said they would match donations to the Founder’s Scholarship up to $10,000. That goal was accomplished thanks to several generous donors in the RSPA community. The $20,000 raised expands the Hayman Scholarship from a $3,500 annual award to a $4,500 annual award.   

• The Nash and Deepa Kumar family donated $25,000 last year and another $25,000 at RetailNOW to expand their Mendiratta Agrawal Scholarship contribution to $100,000 which will fully fund a second $2,500 scholarship award beginning in 2027. 

The 2026 scholarship awards also marked some firsts for the RSPA Scholarship Program. The Curt Kennington Memorial Scholarship and David A. Bowles Memorial Scholarship were awarded for the first time. 

The RSPA Scholarship Fund hosted a friendly team fundraising competition during RetailNOW 2026 with the Scholar Squad, Wonder Funders, and Winged Wishes leading the effort under the guidance of their team captains and lead scholarship volunteer Christine Leduc. Together, their fundraising efforts resulted in a record $21,059 in donations to support scholarships for the children and grandchildren of RSPA members. 

A special congratulations to team Winged Wishes for raising the most funds. Winged Wishes was led by captains Blake Gillum (DCR) and Kelly Giles (Round 2 POS). The Scholar Squad was captained by Lora Coggins (Diebold-Nixdorf) and Travis Hare (Linga), while the Wonder Funders were led by Christine Duffy (Star Micronics) and Kate Orara (Elo). 

We thank them and all scholarship volunteers for their incredible commitment to supporting scholarships for the next generation of our industry. 

For more information on the RSPA Scholarship Program, visit www.GoRSPA.org/Scholarship or email the RSPA Member Services Team of Peggy Fry, Nicole Greene, and Heather Broussard at Membership@GoRSPA.org. 

About RSPA (Retail Solutions Providers Association) 
The RSPA is North America’s largest community of VARs, software providers, vendors, and distributors in the retail, restaurant, and grocery verticals. The mission of the RSPA is to accelerate the success of its members in the retail technology ecosystem by providing knowledge and connections. The organization offers member-to-member warm introductions, education, legal advice, industry advocacy, and other services to assist members with becoming and remaining successful. RSPA is most well-known for its signature events, RetailNOW® and Inspire®, which provide face-to-face learning and networking opportunities. Learn more by visiting www.GoRSPA.org.