A Comprehensive Approach to Develop Materials Scientists from Groups Underrepresented in STEM by Clark Atlanta Universit
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A Comprehensive Approach to Develop Materials Scientists from Groups Underrepresented in STEM by Clark Atlanta University's Center for Functional Nanoscale Materials Ishrat Khan, Myron N. Williams, and James L. Reed Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia; INTRODUCTION Clark Atlanta University established the Center for Functional Nanoscale Materials (CFNM), which received its initial funding as a National Science Foundation Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) in November 2006. The Center was established to create within the University a concentration of researchers, teachers and resources devoted to addressing the need for increasing the pool of talented scientists, increasing our understanding of the nanoscale and maintaining the Nation’s technical competitiveness in the emerging field of nanomaterials. Instrumental to realizing these goals has been the development of national and international partnerships between the Center and a number of institutions. The establishment of such partnerships has provided expertise that is complementary to those present in the Center and has provided expanded opportunities for the Center’s graduate and undergraduate students. To date the Center has developed seven such partnerships. Among them are partnerships with Georgia Perimeter College, Emory University, (Atlanta, GA), Fort Valley State University (Fort Valley, GA), Cornell University (Ithaca NY), University of Texas Pan American (Edinburg, TX) and the iThemba LABS (Somerset West, Western Cape, South Africa). Clark Atlanta University is an independent coeducational University formed in 1988 by the consolidation of the Atlanta University (founded 1865) and Clark College (founded in 1869). From 1929 until consolidation in 1988, Atlanta University was devoted solely to graduate education, from which derives the University’s deep roots in research and scholarship and a long history in post-baccalaureate education for underrepresented minorities. Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is a comprehensive, private institution of higher education with a student population of approximately four thousand. The University consists of the School of Arts and Sciences and three professional schools, which offer undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Full participation of all of the Nation’s citizens at all levels of endeavor has now become a national priority; it is also enshrined in the history of the University as well as CAU’s current mission and vision statements. In the natural and physical sciences, areas that underlie Materials Science, the University offers the masters degrees in biological science, chemistry and physics and the doctorate in biological science and chemistry. As NSF reports, during the period from 1994 to 2001 the number of doctorates awarded to American citizens decreased by 27%. In 1996 47% of earned doctorates in the physical sciences were earned by non-citizens [1]. In addition, although the number of doctorates awarded to African and Hispanic Americans remain nearly constant,
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