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.
The University of Minnesota has received a three-year, $30 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund its Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program that seeks to eliminate health disparities among underserved groups. One project will seek to determine why the maternal mortality rate for African American new mothers is twice as high as the rate for Whites.
A consortium of four historically Black universities is participating in a $1 million grant project funded by the Kresge Foundation and administered by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. The funds will be used to help the HBCUs develop business modeling processes that will boost revenues for the universities. Participating universities Xavier University in New Orleans, Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens.
Jackson State University, the historically Black educational institution in Mississippi, received a five-year, $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study bio-resource materials for sustainable food, energy, and water resource development.
The College of Health and Natural Sciences and the School of Social Work at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, received grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to increase enrollment and retention of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Historically Black Delaware State University received a three-year, $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research aimed at better understanding the nervous system’s structure and functions.
North Carolina Central University, a historically Black educational institution in Durham, received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on a new drug that could be a valuable tool in fighting obesity and Type II diabetes.
Historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to enhance recruitment and retention programs for students in STEM degree programs at the university.
Winston-Salem State University, the historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, received a $83,000 grant from Google that will be used for programs to encourage students in K-12 schools in underserved communities in Winston-Salem to consider studying computer science.
Historically Black Hampton University in Virginia received a $150,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation that will be used to install a state-of-the-art content management systems for use by students in the university’s School of Journalism and Communications.
