Dow, MIT In Collaboration for Educational Outreach
Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) announced the establishment of the MIT-Dow Outreach Fund designed to develop and support the science and engineering careers of underrepresented minorities and women.
The fund, a five-year, $2 million commitment from Dow Chemical, will support the advancement of the shared goals of both Dow and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to support science education throughout the entire pipeline, beginning with high school science teachers and their students and following through to undergraduate and graduate education in chemistry, chemical engineering and materials science.
The establishment of this Outreach Program comes as Dow celebrates the International Year of Chemistry and the importance of the chemical sciences and as MIT celebrates its 150th anniversary.
"Dow and MIT understand that motivated, passionate students are the key to the future of innovation," said Theresa Kotanchek, a PhD in materials science and the vice president of sustainable technologies and innovation sourcing at Dow. "Dow is fully committed to championing the chemistry, chemical engineering and materials science departments at MIT as we work together to provide opportunity for the best and brightest students to excel in the field."
The first program goal of the Dow-MIT Outreach Program is the development of resources aimed at inspiring interest in the physical sciences, particularly chemistry, among high school students and teachers worldwide. The materials will be made available through MIT OpenCourseWare and the MIT Highlights for High School portal.
The second goal expands on a program that has already seen outstanding success: the Dow-MIT ACCESS (A Community in Chemical Engineering Select Symposium). The ACCESS program, initiated in 2009, is a weekend of workshops, talks, tours and interaction created for select underrepresented minority undergraduates in the United States.
The purpose of the program is to introduce these students to the exciting possibilities of graduate level education in engineering and is based on Dow's highly successful BEST program, which offers a similar experience for graduate students wishing to explore industrial careers in science and engineering. The new Dow Outreach gift will allow expansion of the program from the original Department of Chemical Engineering, led by Klavs F. Jensen, Warren K. Lewis Professor of Chemical Engineering and Department Head, to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, led by Edwin L. Thomas, Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, as well as the Department of Chemistry.
Finally, the multiyear gift will establish three Dow Graduate Fellowships to be offered on a competitive basis to outstanding underrepresented minorities and women entering their first year of graduate education in chemistry, chemical engineering or materials science at MIT. Each of the three departments will award one first year fellowship for each of the five years of the program for a total of 15 fellowship awards.
MIT Department of Chemistry Head and John C. Sheehan Professor of Chemistry, Sylvia Ceyer, noted the enhanced opportunity the program brings, and said, "Dow and MIT are united in their recognition of the fundamental need to fully engage underrepresented minorities in the fields of science and technology. This program will identify the most promising students at a variety of stages along the educational pipeline and will help them to achieve their full potential as scientists and engineers. We are so pleased to have the opportunity to positively impact the future of American science and technology in this way."
More at www.dow.com.
