2021 WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Award Recipients

The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management within the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst and Women in Sports and Events (WISE) jointly announced the recipients of the second annual WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Awards.

 

The recipients, Patsy Kealey (pictured right) and Ishita Tibrewal (pictured below left), will each receive free tuition and graduate assistantship funding for both years in the McCormack MBA/MS in Sport Management program. Kealey and Tibrewal were selected from a field of WISE members who applied for the fall 2021 admission to the McCormack program.

 

“We were very impressed by the quality of candidates who applied this year through our partnership with WISE,” said Professor Steve McKelvey, department chair and graduate program director. “We were able to fulfill our goal of attracting more women, specifically from WISE’s extensive membership base, to further their education in sport management, and we look forward to having Ishita and Patsy as part of our rigorous dual-degree program for the next two years.”

 

“Congratulations to Patsy and Ishita for being selected as recipients of the WISE/McCormack Graduate Scholars Awards,” stated Kathleen Francis, chair, WISE National Board. “Our partnership with the McCormack Department of Sport Management team provides women a wonderful opportunity to continue their education and build a career in sports.” 

 

Kealey graduated from Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisc.) with a bachelor of arts in mathematics. The New Rochelle, N.Y., native joins the UMass program after working for the Minnesota United Football Club (FC) where she led on-field broadcasting operations and coordinated vendor and inventory management for the professional soccer games at Allianz Field. In addition, Kealey served as a logistics data analyst at Medtronic (Columbia Heights, Minn.), where she led the implementation of new freight allocation logic and created global best practices for freight invoicing and carrier rate management of over 50 freight providers.

 

“Thank you WISE and the McCormack Department of Sport Management for the opportunity to further grow and develop as a female professional in the business of sports,” said Kealey. “I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and am excited to learn from the best in the industry.”  

 

Tibrewal graduated from Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Mass.) with bachelor of arts degrees in economics and sport management and a minor in global business. During her senior year, she served as the singles and doubles captain for the Lyons varsity tennis team. Originally from Kolkata, India, her most recent sport industry experience includes time at Minor League Baseball (MiLB), where she served as the digital media coordinator, supporting 160 MiLB teams and 14 leagues to track, analyze, and optimize their digital traffic and provide creative digital solutions to improve fan engagement. Prior to the MiLB, Tibrewal served as the event management and sports promotion coordinator at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where she spearheaded diversity and inclusion initiatives and enhanced social media engagement by 200 percent.

 

“I am really excited to be able to further my sports business education as a WISE/McCormack scholar at one of the world’s most prestigious sports management programs,” stated Tibrewal. “I am very grateful to both WISE and the McCormack Department for considering me worthy of this opportunity and honor. The MBA/MS program will not only empower me with a practitioner’s knowledge of the sports industry, but also set me up to achieve my ultimate dream of making sports more inclusive for people across the world.”

 

This is the second year of a three-year partnership between the McCormack Department of Sport Management and WISE providing WISE members nationally the opportunity to receive a fully-funded graduate sport management education.

 

WISE members can begin the application process by registering in the WISE Learning Center (https://learning.wiseworks.org/umass-scholars-overview). The ppplication for fall 2022 is now open. The early action deadline for applying to UMass Amherst is November 1, 2021, and the application deadline is February 1, 2022.

 

About the McCormack Department of Sport Management

The McCormack Department of Sport Management at UMass Amherst is the second oldest degree program of its kind in the world and is currently ranked by SportBusiness as the #2 graduate sport management program in the world. One of the few sport management programs housed in a business school (the Isenberg School of Management), the McCormack Department of Sport Management is also considered one of the nation’s leading undergraduate programs. UMass Amherst also houses the papers of Mark H. McCormack and the company that he founded, IMG. For more information about the McCormack Department of Sport Management, please visit https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/programs/depts/sport-mgmt

 

About WISE

WISE (Women in Sports and Events) is the leading voice and resource for professional women in the business of sports. Through ongoing meetings, special events, and mentoring and educational programs, WISE aims to offer its members the opportunity to gain valuable industry insights and connections that can provide them with a competitive advantage in their current position and as they advance in their careers. Founded in 1993, WISE is a national membership organization and registered 501(c)(3) public charity headquartered in New York City with chapters in Arizona, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, DFW, Greater Orlando, Greater Raleigh, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, NYC Metro, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, SF Bay Area, South Florida, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Twin Cities, Utah, and Washington, D.C. For more information on WISE, please visit WISEworks.org.