News Release

Howard Hughes Medical Institute awards $50.3 million to enrich undergraduate biological sciences education

Grant and Award Announcement

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

CHEVY CHASE, Md., July 6, 2000-Fifty-three colleges and universities in 22 states and Puerto Rico will receive $50.3 million in awards for undergraduate biological sciences education. The four-year grants come from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the nation's largest private supporter of science education from elementary school through postdoctoral studies.

Ranging from $700,000 to $1.7 million, the new undergraduate awards are designed to help institutions that grant bachelor's and master's degrees respond to a recent surge in enrollments in the biological sciences, as well as to the rapid advances in molecular biology, genetics and related life sciences. HHMI grants will enable colleges to expand and update laboratories, recruit new faculty members and provide research opportunities for undergraduates, including women and members of minority groups underrepresented in science.

The awards support education programs that reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of science and research, the central role that computers will play in post-genomic biology, and the growing need for biology majors to consider careers other than research, such as teaching science at the elementary or high school level. The grants will help colleges develop educational programs in the "new biology," which includes increased use of computers, sophisticated data analysis and the integration of biology and mathematics for studying molecular and cellular processes. Many colleges also will use their awards to create interdisciplinary programs linking biology and chemistry, physics and other fields of increasing importance to biologists. For example:

  • Canisius, Harvey Mudd, Haverford, Kenyon and Occidental Colleges are developing new courses and hiring new faculty to add bioinformatics , bioengineering or computational biology to the undergraduate life sciences curriculum.
  • Bates College, City University of New York Hunter College, Morehouse College and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus will focus on attracting biology majors to science teaching and upgrading the knowledge and laboratory skills of existing teachers through outreach programs to their communities.
  • Murray State University, Santa Clara University, Spelman College and Williams College will provide a variety of research opportunities for undergraduates, both on and off campus.

"The colleges and universities receiving these grants contribute greatly to the education of both scientists and nonscientists," said HHMI President Thomas R. Cech. "These grants will help them do what they do best-providing undergraduate research opportunities and building bridges between the sciences and the humanities. I expect that these programs will serve as models for other undergraduate institutions."

HHMI invited 224 colleges and universities to submit proposals. An external panel of distinguished scientists and educators reviewed the 204 proposals received.

This is the fifth time that HHMI has awarded undergraduate science education grants to baccalaureate and master's degree-granting institutions. Four other competitions have made awards to research and doctoral-level universities to strengthen their undergraduate biological sciences programs.

The latest round of grants brings to $476 million the total awarded to 232 colleges and universities in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico since HHMI's Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program began in 1988. The undergraduate program is the largest of HHMI's grants initiatives. Among its accomplishments:

  • Approximately 40,000 students have received Institute support for undergraduate research.
  • Roughly 52,000 precollege teachers and 140,000 elementary and secondary school students have participated in science outreach programs supported by undergraduate grants.
  • More than 6,700 new science courses have been developed.
  • Over 270 new faculty in a variety of science disciplines have been appointed.
  • Many colleges and universities have been helped to broaden access to science for women and minorities who are underrepresented in the sciences.

"Biology and technology are moving forward at an incredible rate," said Joseph G. Perpich, HHMI vice president for grants and special programs. "These grants build on previous HHMI awards to help ensure that the coming generation of scientists and educators will be able to tap the enormous potential of the Web, genomic databases, and other technological advances in biological research and teaching. These grants will help bring the extraordinary excitement of today's biology to undergraduates."

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Institution

City, State

Award Amount

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

$ 700,000

Barnard College

New York, NY

$ 1,100,000

Bates College

Lewiston, ME

$ 1,300,000

Beloit College

Beloit, WI

$ 1,000,000

Benedictine University

Lisle, IL

$ 900,000

Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME

$ 800,000

California State University — Long Beach

Long Beach, CA

$ 1,600,000

Calvin College

Grand Rapids, MI

$ 700,000

Canisius College

Buffalo, NY

$ 900,000

Carleton College

Northfield, MN

$ 900,000

City University of New York Hunter College

New York, NY

$ 1,300,000

Colby College

Waterville, ME

$ 800,000

Colgate University

Hamilton, NY

$ 700,000

Colorado College

Colorado Springs, CO

$ 1,000,000

Connecticut College

New London, CT

$ 1,100,000

Denison University

Granville, OH

$ 700,000

Dickinson College

Carlisle, PA

$ 900,000

Earlham College

Richmond, IN

$ 1,100,000

East Tennessee State University

Johnson City, TN

$ 700,000

Florida A & M University

Tallahassee, FL

$ 700,000

Franklin and Marshall College

Lancaster, PA

$ 700,000

Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA

$ 900,000

Hampshire College

Amherst, MA

$ 1,000,000

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, CA

$ 1,500,000

Haverford College

Haverford, PA

$ 1,700,000

Humboldt State University

Arcata, CA

$ 700,000

Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo, MI

$ 800,000

Kenyon College

Gambier, OH

$ 700,000

Macalester College

St. Paul, MN

$ 800,000

Manhattan College

Bronx, NY

$ 900,000

Morehouse College

Atlanta, GA

$ 700,000

Mount Holyoke College

South Hadley, MA

$ 1,000,000

Murray State University

Murray, KY

$ 1,500,000

Nebraska Wesleyan University

Lincoln, NE

$ 1,100,000

Occidental College

Los Angeles, CA

$ 900,000

 

Institution

Reed College

 

City, State

Portland, OR

 

Award Amount

$ 1,000,000

Saint Olaf College

Northfield, MN

$ 700,000

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

$ 800,000

Smith College

Northampton, MA

$ 800,000

Spelman College

Atlanta, GA

$ 1,000,000

St. John’s College

Annapolis, MD

$ 800,000

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

$ 700,000

Tuskegee University

Tuskegee, AL

$ 700,000

University of Louisiana at Monroe

Monroe, LA

$ 1,500,000

University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus

Mayaguez, PR

$ 900,000

University of the South

Sewanee, TN

$ 700,000

Ursinus College

Collegeville, PA

$ 800,000

Vassar College

Poughkeepsie, NY

$ 1,300,000

Washington and Jefferson College

Washington, PA

$ 700,000

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA

$ 900,000

Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT

$ 900,000

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

$ 800,000

Xavier University of Louisiana

New Orleans, LA

$ 1,500,000

Total

$ 50,300,000

HHMI's grants program supports science education in the United States and a select group of researchers in other countries, complementing its principal mission: the conduct of research in cell biology, computational biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience and structural biology with its own scientific teams. About 350 investigators are employed in HHMI laboratories at 72 academic medical centers and research institutions across the United States. Altogether, the Institute has awarded more than $850 million in grants, primarily to enhance science education from preschool through postdoctoral studies. Additional information is available at http://www.hhmi.org .


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