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.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard University received a $304,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop college courses in biology centered on genetics and genealogy research. The courses will be offered at Spelman College and Morehouse College in Atlanta and North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. Professor Gates hosted a television show on genealogy on PBS.
Historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Veterans Administration for research on cancer treatment using laser-activated and tumor targeted nanoparticles. The research is under the direction of Hadiyah-Nicole Green, an assistant professor of physics. Dr. Green has been on the faculty at Tuskegee since 2013. She is a graduate of Alabama A&M University and earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Rust College, the historically Black educational institution in Holly Springs, Mississippi, received a $400,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to renovate the Carnegie Auditorium on the campus of the old Mississippi Industrial College, which is adjacent to the Rust College campus.
Tulane University in New Orleans received a five-year, $6.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on the demographic and socioeconomic impacts of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. The study will look at how different groups, including New Orleans’ Black population, have recovered or faltered. The grant will fund the establishment of the Tulane Center for Studies in Displaced Populations.
Historically Black Delaware State University in Dover received a $5 million grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that will develop new optical technologies for space exploration, new infrared technologies for studying the chemicals present in planet atmospheres, and other projects.
Tennessee State University, the historically Black educational institution in Nashville, received a four-year, $1 million grant from the Hospital Corporation of America that will be used to fund scholarships for students in health science fields.
