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.
Johnson C. Smith University, the historically Black educational institution in Charlotte, North Carolina, received a three-year, $1,655,000 grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust to support the establishment of a STEM Innovation Center on campus. The grant will support curriculum development and faculty hiring.
Illinois State University in Normal received a three-year, $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support the university’s Pre-entry & Retention Opportunities for Undergraduate Diversity (PROUD) initiative. The PROUD program seeks to increase the number of students from underrepresented minority groups who pursue a career in nursing. The grant program is under the direction of Olanna Pullen, outreach program coordinator for the College of Nursing at the university.
Historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama received a $95,000 grant from Lockheed Martin Inc. to support aerospace engineering educational programs. The grant will be used to enhance laboratory facilities and to establish a high-altitude balloon facility.
The University of Georgia received a $710,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct research on schistosomiasis, a tropical disease affecting millions of people in Africa. The disease causes an estimated 200,000 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa each year.
Historically Black Clark Atlanta University received a $100,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to promote research projects for undergraduate students. The grant program is under the direction of Obie Clayton, the Asa Ware Endowed Professor of Sociology at the university.
