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Individual Recipients of the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence
in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
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
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.
Related News:
- NSF PR 99-59: Presidential
Award Honors Science, Mathematics And Engineering Mentors
- Fact Sheet: Presidential Awards for Excellence
in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
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