Today, UMBC and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced the Meyerhoff Adaptation Project, a five-year partnership between the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Penn State, UNC Chapel Hill and UMBC.
This project will expand UMBC’s innovative Meyerhoff Scholars Program — which has seen dramatic results in successfully preparing minority students for STEM careers — to Penn State and UNC Chapel Hill. Since 1993, the Meyerhoff program has graduated more than 900 students in STEM disciplines; alumni have earned 144 PhD degrees, 39 MD/PhD degrees, 1 DVM/PhD degree, 239 Masters degrees, and 107 MD degrees.
The program is built on a complex set of “interventions,” including summer bridge programs, intensive mentoring, collaborative learning and multiple research experiences. Social scientists at all three universities will gather data to understand how each component of the Meyerhoff model contributes to its overall success.
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Jeff Mervis wrote about the program on Science’s web site.
Mervis noted that HHMI will “spend $7.75 million over the next 5 years to support a partnership between UMBC and two major state institutions—the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Pennsylvania State University in State College. The HHMI funding will help faculty members and administrators at all three schools document what is essential for success and also create a roadmap for other universities to follow. Last year both schools launched their own versions of the Meyerhoff program, which seeks out high-performing students who intend to pursue a Ph.D. in science or engineering.”
HHMI News quoted UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, “The primary purpose of the Meyerhoff Program is to produce scientists and engineers, with an emphasis on people from underrepresented groups—but also people of all races—who are interested in helping others.”
And it is with that purpose that HHMI hopes to expand Meyerhoff Scholarship Program beyond UMBC.
Inside Higher Ed: UNC, Penn State Seek to Replicate STEM Diversity Program
Tags: CNMS, MeyerhoffScholars
