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.
Historically Black Norfolk State University in Virginia has received a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct research on renewable energy. The project will conduct research and develop advanced materials and devices in solar and thermoelectric energy as well as conducting research on batteries and low energy-consuming devices.
The University of Kansas received a $159,049 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that will be used to organize two, week-long workshops for K-12 educators. The workshops will educate the teachers on Native American and African American educational experiences in Kansas between 1830 and 1960, providing information that they can take back to their classrooms. The workshops will be held in the summer of 2017.
Fisk University, the historically Black educational institution in Nashville, Tennessee, received a $404,000 grant from the Army Research Office of the U.S. Department of Defense. The grant will fund the purchase of advanced equipment for the university’s Center of Excellence for Biological Sensing and Sensors.
Historically Black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina received a $125,000 grant from the Branch Banking & Trust Company, the large financial services company based in Winston-Salem. The grant will be used to establish the Cynthia A. Williams Endowed Scholarship for undergraduate students in biology, chemistry, computer science, or mathematics. The scholarship fund was named in honor of Williams who is retiring as senior vice president and chief of corporate communications for BB&T. She also is on the board of the Winston-Salem State University Foundation.
Historically Black Virginia State University received a $236,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for programs to improve the academic performance of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
