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.
Historically Black Morgan State University in Baltimore received a five-year, $999,531 grant from the National Science Foundation. The funds will be used to provide 30 undergraduate scholarships, establish mentorship programs and personalized development plans for university students, and further enrich the school’s STEM curricula by fostering innovation in developing new practices and modernizing pedagogy practiced among educators. The grant program is under the direction of Angela Winstead, a professor and chair of the department of chemistry at Morgan State University. Dr. Winstead is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta and holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Colorado College has received a $575,000 grant from the Sachs Foundation to support Black students interested in pursuing careers in education. The grant will be used to support summer fellowships, academic-year internships, and scholarships.
Howard University, the historically Black educational institution in Washington, D.C., received a five-year, $7.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense to create a Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, The center aims to develop more reliable AI systems that could support a wide variety of applications, including the battlefield, Internet of Things, electronic warfare, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and machine vision.
Historically Black Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, received an $815,000 grant from the National Science Foundation aimed at increasing the number of students entering graduate and professional schools in STEM fields. The project will improve student persistence in STEM by creating the Lane College Science Learning Center. The grant project is under the direction of Melanie Van Stry, an associate professor of biology at Lane College. Dr. Van Stry earned her a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Boston College and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Boston University School of Medicine.
The School of Theology at historically Black Virginia Union University in Richmond received a grant from the Lilly Endowment to fund the development and operations of a center that addresses global injustices. The center will demonstrate the effectiveness of prophetic preaching and Black theological education in shaping discourse that addresses and transforms communities subject to injustices and oppression of every kind. Scholarships will be available for doctoral students in the concentrations of preaching, global leadership, institutional reform, community health, and sustainability.
Historically Black Delaware State University received a five-year, $7.5 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to establish a Center of Excellence in Advanced Quantum Sensing. The technology provides new avenues for improving the sensitivity and precision of physical measurements (such as time, electromagnetic field, rotation, acceleration, gravity, etc.) beyond classical limits.
