STEM Fields

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.

“HBCUs have produced generations of doctors, scientists, and public health leaders who serve their communities with skill and purpose,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We want to strengthen that legacy.”

Dr. Nelson has received the 2025 Joseph A. Johnson Award of Excellence, presented jointly by the American Institute of Physics and the National Society of Black Physicists. The award recognizes early-career experimental physicists for their scientific innovation, mentorship, and service.

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.

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

For the 2025-2026 academic year, Black students represented 11.3 percent of all applicants, but only 8.4 percent of all matriculants to medical schools in the United States. This is a significant decline from 2021-2022, when Black students' representation among medical school matriculants peaked at 11.7 percent.

In addition to Black adults' overall higher cancer mortality rate compared to White adults, a new report from the American Cancer Society found significant cancer mortality rate disparities within the Black American population based on education.

Dr. Goliath, an assistant professor of anthropology and Middle Eastern culture at Mississippi State University, is an expert in skeletal biology. He focuses his research and community outreach efforts on supporting marginalized populations and improving outcomes for missing and unidentified persons, particularly in underserved regions in the rural American South.

For decades, research has documented African Americans' lower levels of trust in scientific institutions compared to Americans of other racial groups. According to a new study, this may be largely due to the persistent lack of racial diversity in the STEM workforce.

Hampton University, Morehouse College, Tennessee State University, and Virginia State University have each received $500,000 matching grants from the Southern Company Foundation to establish endowed professorships in sustainability-related fields. The grants are the latest additions to the foundation's ongoing pledge to invest $50 million to HBCUs in the utility company's service area.

“I am inspired by the [MGH Institute for Health Professions'] mission to educate health professionals and researchers who will drive innovation in the delivery of equitable and interprofessional care,” said Dr. Jones. “This mission aligns deeply with my own purpose, which is to bring together people, ideas, and systems for the greater good, because the greater good is stronger than any individual part.”

Among many other accomplishments, Dr. Wyatt is known for being the first person of color to become a licensed psychologist in the state of California, the first Black woman to be named full professor at UCLA's medical school, and the first person of color to receive training as a sexologist.

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

Undergraduate students studying business and STEM at Jackson State now have the opportunity to be mentored by working professionals at S&P Global. The corporation will also provide the HBCU with new laptops and access to its financial intelligence platform.

An expert in pediatric endocrinology, Dr. Elders was the second woman and the first African American to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. She currently serves as a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

The College of Health Sciences at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, has reserved seats specifically for Lincoln University of Pennsylvania students in several graduate degree programs in the health sciences. The two universities have also agreed to collaborate on projects through Alvernia's O'Pake Institute for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship and Lincoln's Lincubator.

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.

A full professor of mathematics and statistics at Pomona College in California, Dr. Goins is slated to become the Mathematical Association of America's first Black president in its 110-year history.

Over the next five years, leaders at historically Black Meharry Medical College will partner with community stakeholders in Nashville, Tennessee; Detroit, Michigan; and San Bernadino, California to address the cities' disproportionately high rates of cardiovascular disease.

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.