IA student wins Jim Mathews Award

Intelligence Analysis
 

Holly SchnaderHolly Schnader (’18), Intelligence Analysis (IA) major has been chosen as one of two winners of the 2018 Jim Mathews Award for Intelligence Excellence. The award was founded in honor of James Mathews, a major contributor to the field of business and competitive intelligence, according to the symposium’s website.

Schnader presented her paper at the April Reconverge:G2 Symposium for Competitive Intelligence in Madison, Wisconsin. Aurora WDC, an advising firm in analytics and competitive intelligence, sponsors both the award and the symposium. Craig Fleisher, Chief Learning Officer of Aurora WDC notes that Holly's presentation of her award-winning essay elicited a response from a senior CI director at a large aerospace and defense company that “her presentation was so professional that she could have presented that and made an impact with our C-suite," noted.

Schnader grew up on a farm in Lancaster County where most of her peers were interested in agriculture. She knew she wanted something different. She pursued an Army ROTC scholarship at the end of her junior year in high school and put in her ROTC packet with JMU listed as her number one option.

Upon acceptance to JMU, Schnader attended an event about the various majors on campus. She applied to the Intelligence Analysis program after speaking with a program faculty member. “From that moment I knew that it was exactly what I wanted to do. I was intrigued by the combination of research, critical thinking, inventive ideas, and being able to work on a multitude of projects that use similar methodologies, but are on a different topic.” stated Schnader in the announcement by Rconverge.

Holly minored in Military Science, Computer Information Systems, and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies and is currently an intern at Northrop Grumman, and is on track to commission as an Army officer in either the intelligence branch or cyber branch.

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Published: Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Last Updated: Thursday, November 2, 2023

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