Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Southern University, the historically Black educational institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received a $108,000 grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute for a program to investigate the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The grant will provide funds to support the research of five doctoral students in environmental toxicology.
Historically Black Prairie View A&M University in Texas received a five-year, $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to enhance student counseling services at the university. The grant is under the direction of Bernadine Duncan, director of student counseling services at the university.
Historically Black Clark Atlanta University received a three-year, $405,008 grant from the National Science Foundation for research on infrared and optical lines in spectra of distant stars and galaxies.
The Data Science Institute at Columbia University received a $548,000 grant from the Defense Advanced Projects Agency to study how ISIS uses social media to recruit members from gangs in the United States. Desmond Patton, an assistant professor of social work at the university and leader of the grant project, has collected millions of tweets from Twitter accounts of gang members in Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and holds a master of social work degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in social service administration from the University of Chicago.
Delaware State University, the historically Black educational institution in Dover, received a two-year, $298,592 grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who study renewable energy and environmental sustainability.
Historically Black Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina received a $311,430 grant from the Army Research Office that will be used to obtain equipment to conduct research on semiconductors. The grant is under the direction of Adetayo Adedeji, an associate professor of physics at the university. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from Auburn University in Alabama.
The University of California, Berkeley received a $98,000 grant from the National Park Service to conduct research relating to sites related to the establishment and operations of the Black Panther Party in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay area. The project will be led by Ula Y. Taylor, chair of African American studies at the university.
