Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A $500,000 grant to Mississippi State will help academically talented, financially needy students pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
The National Science Foundation will fund the Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program at the university over a three-year period. The program begins Jan. 1, 2007, and concludes Dec. 31, 2010.
Thirty-six scholarships worth $4,000 each will be awarded over the period to students who are U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted immigrants. Demonstrated academic potential or ability and financial need are among the criteria for selection.
The NSF requires applicants to be enrolled full time in a bachelor's or graduate program in biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or physics.
"We will recruit in spring 2007 and begin to make scholarship awards in fall 2007," said Corlis Johnson, the grant's principal investigator and associate head of MSU's mathematics and statistics department.
Johnson said recruiting and retaining students in STEM fields and preparing them to enter today's highly technical work force are major goals of the NSF program. Scholarship applicants will be recruited from state and regional high schools, community colleges and four-year and historically black institutions, the associate professor of mathematics added.
"The NSF program provides scholarship grants to academically talented, financially needy students who are majoring in a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) field to enable these students to graduate and enter the work force after graduation," Johnson said.
Other co-principal investigators and members of the MSU project team are Sandra Harpole, physics professor and associate vice president for research; Nancy McCarley, associate professor of psychology and director of the Shackouls Honors College; and Donna Reese, computer science professor and associate dean of the Bagley College of Engineering.
"There is a critical need for scientists and engineers in this country," said Harpole, who also directs the university's Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology.
"We are pleased the National Science Foundation is providing this support for MSU students enrolled in STEM fields, preparing them for the work force in these important areas," Harpole added.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Johnson at 662-325-3414 or cjohnson@ra.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.