PRESIDENTIAL AWARD HONORS SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND ENGINEERING MENTORS


Ten individuals and five institutions are receiving the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The award is administered and funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF). President Clinton honor individuals and groups that have been exemplary in their encouragement of minorities, women and persons with disabilities to pursue careers in scientific, engineering and technical fields. The president has said that they would "serve as examples to their colleagues and will be leaders in the national effort to train the next century of scientists, mathematicians and engineers." "No personal influence is as powerful, long-lasting, and positive as that of a superlative mentor. The mentors receiving this award today are a true national resource who play a key role in defining the quality of our nation's future human resources in science, mathematics, technology and engineering," said NSF director Rita Colwell.

Up to 10 individuals and 10 institutions annually may qualify for the national award, which includes a $10,000-grant and a commemorative presidential certificate.

The mentoring awards recognize a long-term commitment to providing opportunities for greater participation in science and engineering by all Americans. The awards do this by honoring those whose personal and organizational activities have increased participation of underrepresented groups in mathematics, engineering and science from kindergarten through graduate level.

This year's awardees were selected from among 36 nominated for the individual awards and another 19 from institutions.

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PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND ENGINEERING MENTORING 1999 WINNERS



INDIVIDUALS:



INSTITUTIONS:


Background: Approximately 20 recipients receive the award each year-up to 10 individuals and 10 institutions. The individual award is given to mentors who have demonstrated outstanding and sustained mentoring and effective guidance to a significant number of students at the K-12, undergraduate or graduate education levels. The institutional award is given to organizations that, through institutional programming, have enabled a substantial number of students from groups underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering to successfully pursue and complete the relevant degree programs.

History: Science in the National Interest, a 1994 national policy document on science and technology, articulated several goals as part of the Clinton Administration's effort to propel the nation into the 21st century on a strong scientific and technological foundation. Two of the major goals are the production of the finest scientists and engineers for the 21st century, and scientific literacy for all.

The Administration committed to maximizing the nation's pool of talented, well-educated, and highly trained scientists and engineers to help achieve those goals. This entails maintaining demonstrated excellence in the production of scientists and engineers by actively increasing the participation of talent that draws fully on all racial/cultural segments of the nation's population.

Rationale for the Mentoring Program: The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy*through its National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)*established the Presidential Award-- for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in recognition of the critical importance played by visible role models and the power of mentors to affect the development of talent among groups traditionally underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering

The awards are implemented by NSTC's Committee on Education and Training. They recognize outstanding mentoring efforts and programs that have enhanced the participation of individuals from underrepresented groups (minorities, women and persons with disabilities). The awardees serve as role models and leaders in the national effort to develop more fully the nation's human resources in science, mathematics and engineering.

Administration: The Mentoring awards are administered by the National Science Foundation. Both the individual and the institutional awards include a $10,000 grant to go along with a Presidential commemorative certificate. The monetary award is to be directed back into the recognized mentoring activity. Individual Recipients of the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring

Individual Summaries

Ajay K. Bose Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ For more than 40 years, Bose has conducted educational, research and mentoring programs that have enhanced the science and engineering careers of hundreds of women and minority students at the pre-college, undergraduate and graduate levels. Contributions include an undergraduate summer research program, now in its 28th continuous year of successful operation. More than 400 students that have benefited from this program have pursued careers in chemistry and related sciences. Bose's pre-college version of this program has helped high school teachers convey the excitement of chemistry through experimentation and has recruited many disadvantaged students from inner city schools for summer research experiences. His "Equipment of the Month Club," lends sophisticated equipment to inner city schools.

George Castro San Jose State University Beginning in 1968 at IBM Research, Castro made it his avocation to mentor youth from underrepresented groups in order to advance their education in science and engineering. In 1971, he began an on-the-job training program to assist minority students in becoming technicians at IBM Research. He also created research positions for undergraduate students. During the next two decades, he hired and mentored over 20 minority and female science and engineering students. During this time, Castro frequently volunteered his time to visit elementary schools, high schools and universities to speak to students about careers in science and engineering. As President of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, Castro helped build this organization into one of national prominence that serves over 1,000 students a year.

Meera Chandrasekhar University of Missouri-Columbia Chandrasekhar developed in 1992 Exploring Physics, an after school program to introduce physics to female students in grades 5-7. It has grown to be part of elementary schools' curricula, impacting about 300 students annually. While maintaining an active research laboratory where she studies the optical characteristics of semiconductors, Chandrasekhar also developed three additional programs: (i) Families Exploring Science and Technology, where students in grades 6-7 and their parents build a drawbridge; (ii) Saturday Science, students in grades 8-9 visit local industrial sites and participate in hands-on activities; and (iii) Newton Academy, a ten-day residential science and technology program for female students in grades 9 through 11.

Harold Deutschman New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark Deutschman has a distinguished record over the past 29 years initiating, directing and teaching pre-college programs, and mentoring students to enter college and pursue careers in science, mathematics and engineering. His summer engineering program for 9th and 10th graders, started in 1970, has run continuously for 29 years. He has mentored over 2,500 students, averaging 100 per year who are predominately underrepresented minority students from the Greater Newark area. More than 95% of Deutschman's mentees have enrolled in college and 70% have majored in science, mathematics, or engineering.

Samuel F. Hart, Sr. Mercer University, Macon, Georgia Hart has demonstrated exceptional leadership in inspiring students in their development of discipline, self-esteem and self-worth. During the 1980s, he envisioned and initiated a program which identified and developed minority and underprivileged middle school students who had the potential to succeed in mathematics and science-related disciplines. He has also been a pivotal influence for hundreds of young minority high school students in Middle Georgia, many of whom became first-generation college students. Of the 103 African American students mentored by Dr. Hart, 54 have earned baccalaureate degrees, 26 have earned master's degrees and 25 have earned doctoral or medical degrees.

Ram S. Lamba University of Puerto Rico-Cayey Lamba's contributions have had far-reaching impact on the science, mathematics, and engineering curriculum, and related activities over a lifetime, having mentored students at the pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Lamba's efforts include: teacher enhancement projects; revitalization of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum to promote student learning through laboratory instruction; computer interactive laboratories as a tool for redesigning laboratory experiences; development of locally produced laboratory instrumentation for the pre-college and undergraduate levels; and infusion of technology into the teaching of science. Lamba's mentees include nine university science professors and more than 500 science teachers.

Raymond B. Landis California State University-Los Angeles Landis is the founder and architect of the Minority Engineering Program at California State Univ. in Los Angeles, a national model for minority-focused engineering initiatives, established more than two decades ago. He also established an innovative program to enhance cross-cultural communication between faculty advisors and minority students. His engineering textbook for college freshmen has reached more than 32,000 students at more than 300 institutions. His newsletter provides ongoing support for science and mathematics teachers and engineering faculty. His Chautauqua course has disseminated his methods to more than 700 engineering educators across the country.

Zafra M. Lerman Columbia College, Chicago Lerman has devoted her professional career to engaging students' interest in science and has taken great strides to "turn on" minority pupils to science. Through the Institute for Science Education and Science Communication, Lerman serves as a role model for the college community by making the Institute a "home" for minority students. Lerman has created an innovative curriculum in which students are encouraged to apply their interests, strengths, talents and cultural backgrounds to their science coursework. She established a program of teaching science through dance. In the community "Mother Zafra" has led a program for parents, teachers and students of a street-gang-infested Southwest side (Chicago) neighborhood to increase awareness of and competence in science related matters. For most of the 16,000 plus students who have participated in these programs, this is the first time they began thinking about attending college.

Richard L. Radtke University of Hawaii-Manoa Radtke effectively balances his time between scientific research and community/youth education by engaging students, parents, and teachers in his laboratory, in the field, in his global expeditions and in countless civic presentations, schools visits, and public television programs. He has mentored more than 80 youth with physical disabilities. He has inspired blind youth to paddle canoes; youth with mental health needs to control their emotions; and deaf students to share their observations in American Sign Language. Radtke is an outstanding role model, particularly for physically disabled youth, since he, too, is severely disabled due to multiple sclerosis, and has been paralyzed from the neck down since the mid 1980s.

Mary L. Soffa University of Pittsburgh Mary Soffa has been highly successful in personally mentoring graduate students. Of her 16 graduated Ph.D. students, 50 percent are women. Of her master's degree students, 24 (53 percent) are women, one is African American, and one is physically disabled. She currently advises six doctoral students including two women. Among her mentees is a Swedish female that was the first woman in her country to receive a doctorate in computer science. Among her graduates, 11 have received prestigious pre-doctoral fellowships, two are full professors, three are associate professors, two are assistant professors, and one has received the NSF Young Investigator Award. While serving as Dean of Graduate Studies, she implemented an innovative program to recruit underrepresented students that increased their number by 100 percent in four years. Institutional Recipients of the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring

Project Summaries

Science and Mathematics Investigative Learning Experiences Oregon State University Susan J. Borden
SMILE (Science and Mathematics Investigative Learning Experiences) serves Native American, Hispanic American, and other economically disadvantaged youth in grades 4 through 12 through hands-on experiences in science and mathematics. Weekly meetings with 20 students and two teachers are the backbone of the program. Students also participate in field trips and community projects with practicing scientists and engineers. SMILE began in 1988, serving 80 students in four middle schools. The program now serves more than 700 elementary, middle and high school students along with 70 teachers in 39 schools. Eighty-five percent (512) of students that participated in SMILE for more that one year graduated from high school. Ninety-eight percent of the SMILE class of 1998 continued on to college. The Oregon-based SMILE program has been successfully replicated in Rhode Island.

Academic Excellence (ACE) Honors Program University of California, Santa Cruz Nancy J. Cox-Konopelski
ACE focuses on retaining students in entry-level undergraduate science courses through a combination of collaborative problem-solving sessions and one-on-one peer mentoring. ACE provides a setting in which students master the appropriate course material while developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In 1998, ACE served approximately 500 students, most of whom belong to underrepresented minority groups, providing co-curricular discussion sessions in the fields of calculus, chemistry, physics, biology, and genetics. Sixty-two percent of ACE participants graduated and seventy-five percent earned a degree in science, mathematics, or engineering.

Office of Minority Programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Virginia Carolyn Vallas
The primary objective of the Office of Minority Programs (OMP) is to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation of underrepresented students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering. This work has been carried out within the larger purpose of increasing the pool of talented minority high school students interested in engineering and heightening awareness of engineering within minority communities. OMP efforts include a week-long residential program for rising high school juniors and seniors, a summer bridge academy for first-year students, internships in the corporate sector, and research opportunities with University of Virginia faculty. As a result of OMP programs, more than 249 underrepresented minority undergraduate students and 122 graduate students have received degrees from the engineering school during the last ten years.

Douglass Project for Women in Mathematics, Science and Engineering Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Joseph J. Seneca
Established in 1986, the Douglass Project encourages women to study, explore, and pursue careers in mathematics, science and engineering. The project is housed at Douglass College which is among the largest undergraduate women's colleges in the United States, enrolling more that 3,000 students of whom 33 percent are women of color, 40 percent are first generation college students, and 30 percent come from homes where a language other that English is spoken. The project provides a three-year hands-on science program for grades 9-11; peer, faculty and graduate student mentoring; internships; and, opportunities for students to interact with role models. An outreach component to a grammar school and to Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. is also part of the program. Over 900 female high school students have participated in the hands-on science program.

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program The University of Michigan Fawwaz T. Ulaby
In the 11 years since the University Research Opportunity Program (UROP) was launched to improve undergraduate education and minority student retention and academic achievement, it has evolved from serving 14 students to serving more than 850 first- and second-year students each year. The centerpiece of this innovative program is the creation of research partnerships between students and faculty researchers. UROP has been successful to weave minority students into the fabric of the campus community at an early point in their academic careers. To date, some 4,000 students have participated in UROP; more than 2,100 have been students of color. Success indicators include an attrition rate lower than that for university-wide underrepresented students and a mean Grade Point Average that is 6 percent higher than that of students in a matched control group.