RESTON, Va. – The recipient of the 2015 Richard C. Ryan Scholarship is Alexandra Slagle, from the Michigan State Univ., according to a joint announcement by PMMI, the association for packaging and processing technologies and Dorner Manufacturing Corp.

The $2,000 memorial scholarship was established in the name of Richard C. Ryan, former president and CEO of Dorner Manufacturing, a PMMI member company. This is one of several scholarships the PMMI Foundation administers as part of providing scholarship funds of more than $100,000 each year.


Slagle’s application focused on her education that extended beyond her packaging major coursework and included engineering and physics with an emphasis on the role packaging can play in fighting hunger throughout the world.

“Every year there are more and more applicants for scholarships in the packaging industry,” said Maria Ferrante, PMMI’s vice president of education and workforce development. “This year was no exception, and Alexandra certainly raised the bar for future applicants.”

“This was a difficult decision because of the quality of all of our applicants,” said Jim Barwick, director of human resources with Dorner. “She has a clear understanding of the field, has a plan, shows passion and we were particularly impressed by her international perspective.”