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.
Mentewab Ayalew, professor of biology at historically Black Spelman College in Atlanta, has received a $483,620 grant from the National Institutes of Health to create an integrated genomic data science curriculum for the college’s biology program. The updated program will prepare students to manage the massive datasets that are driving biomedical research in oncology, human genetics, neuroscience, and disease prevention.
The Moorehead Family Foundation has gifted $2 million to Grambling State University in Louisiana to establish the Thomas and Joyce Moorehead College of Business and Entrepreneurship. This will be the HBCU’s first named college. The Mooreheads’ gift includes allocations for scholarships, fellowship programs, and an endowed deanship.
The department of communication sciences and disorders at historically Black North Carolina Central University has received a $1.19 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to assist graduate students pursuing careers in speech language pathology. The funding will support 18 graduate students with tuition assistance, stipends, professional development opportunities, and materials to use in their clinical practicum.
Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana recently received a $5 million investment from Shell to expand student success initiatives in the College of Business and the College of Sciences and Engineering. A large portion of the gift will be used to enhance HBCU’s chemical engineering program through curriculum development and new research opportunities. The donation will also fund the creation of a Student Success Center, which will provide academic advising and career development support.
