Questrom Seniors Shine at 2025 NRF Scholarship Awards
January 13, 2025
On January 12, 2025, Questrom seniors Miri Chan‘25 and Julia Yusupov’25 represented Boston University, Questrom School of Business with pride at the 2025 NRF Foundation Next Generation Scholarship awards ceremony. Miri Chan claimed the prestigious grand prize, earning a $25,000 tuition scholarship, while Julia Yusupov placed in the top 5, receiving a $10,000 tuition scholarship. Congratulations to our 2025 NRF Scholarship winners!
Miri Chan served as the PR Director for the award-winning Off the Cuff fashion magazine and the Professional Development Director for the Fashion & Retail Association club. Miri was also President of the Guerilla Marketing Society in 2023 and is currently both a Career Skills Coach for the Feld Center and a Teaching Assistant for the Marketing Dept. She gained valuable industry experience through companies like UNIQLO, participating in the Global Management Program, where she spent a week in Tokyo learning about the company and proposing solutions to business cases. She also worked with Ralph Lauren and Tapestry, the global fashion house behind Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. After graduation, Miri is returning to Ralph Lauren for their “Iconic Rotational Program”, which is an 18-month program where she will rotate through various departments within the company for 6 months each.
Julia Yusupov’25 showcases exceptional leadership as the team lead for the 2024 NRF Foundation University Challenge, she guided her team—Anya Peruvemba and Lauren Wu—to a remarkable semi-final finish (top 15 teams) among over 100 entries. Their case study for Carter’s, a leading children’s clothing brand, highlights Julia’s strategic thinking and collaborative abilities.
Recognized for her talents, Julia was recruited by Professor Greg Stoller to represent Questrom in another prestigious case competition, partnering with Dick’s Sporting Goods. Beyond her academic achievements, Julia honed her expertise last summer as an intern at Best Buy, where she applied her IT and operations management skills in their Operations Management division.
Julia’s impressive track record reflects her passion for innovation, leadership, and excellence in business challenges.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), based in Washington, D.C., passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies, and ideas that drive the retail industry’s success. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, contributing $5.3 trillion to the annual GDP and supporting over 55 million American jobs.
“The NRF Foundation is committed to recognizing rising retail talent through the Next Generation Scholarship,” said NRF Foundation Executive Director Adam Lukoskie. “Throughout this year’s competition, these finalists demonstrated a strong work ethic, creative thinking skills, and personal drive to advance the industry.”
Ambitious students from NRF University member schools competed in this rigorous competition to showcase their potential as the next generation of retail leaders. The selection process included submitting an essay, a personal brand video, and two letters of recommendation from employers and educators. Retail executives from 17 companies evaluated the submissions, ultimately selecting 25 semifinalists. These students completed a case study created with Nordstrom and participated in interviews with retail partners, culminating in the announcement of the finalists. Each semifinalist received a $1,000 travel stipend to attend the 2024 NRF Foundation Student Program in New York City.
Congratulations to Miri and Julia, our 2025 NRF Scholarship winners, for their exceptional achievements, representing Questrom and the retail industry’s bright future! Thank you to Steve Larkin‘80 and the Steve Larkin’80 NYC Retail Trek Fund, which supports Questrom students in their retail journeys.
Undergraduates Min Choi’26, Katie Kim’27, Lauren Yu’26, and Anya Peruvemba’27 and MBA students Magdalena Linninger, Kate Baldukhaeva, and Victoria Lai also attended the NRFF Conference.
