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.
Historically Black Florida A&M University in Tallahassee received a $110,000 grant from the Board of Governors Foundation of the State University System of Florida. The money is earmarked for scholarships for students who are the first generation in their family to enroll in college.
Kennesaw State University in Georgia received a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for programs aimed at increasing the number of students from underrepresented minority groups who pursue doctorates in integrative biology or the chemical sciences.
Historically Black North Carolina Central University in Durham received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to provide counseling and tutoring to increase retention and graduation rates. The grant program is under the direction of Ontario Wooden, associate vice chancellor for innovative, engaged, and global education in the Division of Academic Affairs. Dr. Wooden is a graduate of Albany State University in Georgia. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University.
Savannah State University, the historically Black educational institution in Georgia, received a three-year, $314,972 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct research on metavinulin, a chemical in cardiac and skeletal muscles.
South Carolina State University, the historically Black educational institution in Orangeburg, received a $225,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for research involving the environmental cleanup at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. The site was used in the production of nuclear weapons.
Historically Black Virginia State University was awarded a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to increase the number of students from underrepresented minority groups who pursue degrees in STEM disciplines.
Washington University in St. Louis received a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct research with the goal of eliminating river blindness and elephantiasis, two tropical diseases that plague several nations in sub-Saharan Africa.
