Louisiana State University Chemist Wins $1 Million GrantNEW ORLEANS
Dr. Isiah Warner, a Louisiana State University professor and administrator and an internationally recognized analytical chemist, is among 20 scientists at research universities who will be awarded $1 million in grants during the next four years for undergraduate science education.
Warner, 56, plans to use the $250,000 available each year from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to develop a mentoring program for minority undergraduate students taking math and science courses and to create a support system for minority high school students and science teachers, officials said.
Weak science education continues to plague schools attended by many Black students, Warner says.
“Schools are still segregated. Most African Americans attend schools where a majority of the students are minorities, and they aren’t encouraged to take math and science,” he says.
Warner wants to develop a “mentoring ladder” that includes university professors, graduate students, undergraduate students and high school teachers.
The Maryland-based institute, a private philanthropy that supports science education and biomedical research, invited 84 research universities to nominate faculty members for the grants.
A panel of scientists and educators selected the first class of 20 “HHMI Professors” from 150 proposals.
Warner serves as an LSU vice chancellor, in charge of the Office of Strategic Initiatives, and holds two distinguished professorships.
He received the Presidential Medal for Mentoring in 1997 for his effectiveness in guiding minority students into chemistry. Under his direction, LSU has awarded more doctoral degrees in chemistry to Black students than any higher education institution in the country, university officials have said.
For more information visit the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Web site at <www.hhmi.org>.
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