Bowie State to Launch the Center for Research and Mentoring of Black Male Students and Teachers

Julius Davis, an associate professor and mathematics education researcher at Bowie State University, has been selected for the Wilson H. Elkins Professorship by the University System of Maryland. The award will provide him with a grant to establish a Center for Research and Mentoring of Black Male Students and Teachers.

“It’s humbling and an honor to receive such an award. It feels great to know that the University System of Maryland thought that it was worth the investment to create a center for research and mentoring of Black male students and teachers at a historically Black university,” said Dr. Davis. “It’s great to be on the cutting-edge by trying to create a center focused on Black male students and teachers. We’ll be creating it from the foundation up.”

The center’s main goal is to support a pipeline of Black males joining the ranks of Maryland’s educators, especially those who specialize in teaching high-demand fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Dr. Davis plans to recruit 25 to 50 local students to participate in the center’s workshops, mentoring programs, and field trips throughout the 2019-2020 academic year.

“I’m excited to start working with the young men. I do research, but I really want to impact what’s going on in the community, where the work matters most,” said Dr. Davis. “I hope that it will create a national reputation for Bowie State to be a center for excellence for looking at black male students and black male teachers.”

Dr. Davis is a graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he majored in mathematics education. He holds a master’s degree in middle/secondary instruction with a concentration in mathematics from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in mathematics education from Morgan State University in Baltimore.