Howard University: Encouraging STEM Education
Established in 1867, Howard University is one of the most renowned universities across the globe. Along with all other running programs, the university has now turned its attention to STEM education. The university is focussing on furthering STEM education efforts and it will be able to do so with the help of a new grant.
Recently, the university received a $4 million gift to fund its Bison STEM Scholars program. This donation is supposed to be used for the financial support of Howard’s BSSP initiative which was created to provide nearly a dozen students with a 4-year full-ride scholarship. This scholarship will inculcate STEM culture among the students. It will also be useful for encouraging many more students to pursue STEM education.
The Largest Gift from a Foundation
The Hopper-Dean Foundation is an organization that has been dedicated to funding educational programs focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. This donation is said to be the largest gift that the university has ever received from a Foundation. “The Hopper-Dean donation will make a life-altering difference in the lives of our students and we appreciate their investment and confidence in the University. This generous gift will further enhance Howard’s strategic plan and University mission to diversify the workforce with skillfully trained students who are prepared to focus on careers in computer science and computer engineering,” the Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick said in a statement.
“As the importance of computing and computer science continues to grow, we truly believe the population of computer scientists should reflect that growth in terms of diversity,” said Jeffrey Dean and Heidi Hopper from the Hopper-Dean Foundation. Just a year after the university joined the Verizon Innovative Learning Program to provide workshops that cover Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics for young boys in the Washington D.C. area, this gift came.
