Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Winston-Salem State University, the historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, received a two-year, $199,518 grant from the National Science Foundation to study peripheral nerve injuries. The grant program, which will involve the use of students in research, is under the direction of assistant professor of chemistry Charles Ebert.
Central State University, the historically Black educational institution in Wilberforce, Ohio, was awarded a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, to develop a sharable self-optimizing and cooperative control cyber sensors network platform. The principal investigator for the grant program is Kimberly Kendricks, an assistant professor of mathematics and computer science. Dr. Kendricks holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Auburn University.
Historically Black Alabama State University in Montgomery received a four-year, $366,648 grant from the National Science Foundation. The funds will be used to provide scholarships for students in STEM fields. Ten students will receive scholarships each semester for the next four years and a network of peer tutors will be hired in an effort to increase retention and graduation rates of the STEM students who receive the scholarships.
Historically Black Alabama A&M University in Huntsville received a five-year $8 million grant from the National Science Foundation for its Alliance for Physics Excellence initiative which seeks to improve physics education in Alabama’s secondary schools.
Tuskegee University, the historically Black educational institution in Alabama, received a $300,000 grant from Proctor & Gamble. The grant will provide scholarship funds for students in information technology majors. To qualify for the scholarship, which could be as much as $10,000 per year, students must be sophomores, juniors, or seniors majoring in computer science, electrical engineering, statistics/applied mathematics, management information systems, or supply chain management with at least a 3.0 grade point average.
The North Star STEM Alliance, a consortium 16 higher educational institutions led by the University of Minnesota, received a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a program to increase the number of underrepresented minority students in STEM majors. The program began five years ago and the number of minority students graduating with degrees in STEM fields nearly doubled. The goal is to once again double the number of minority students graduating with degrees in STEM fields over the next five years.
Johnson C. Smith University, the historically Black educational institution in Charlotte, North Carolina, received a two-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will fund a study abroad program for students to learn Mandarin Chinese at three universities in China during the summer months.
