Spelman College receives $2.5 Million National Science Foundation Grant to create 'next-level' stem disciplines

ATLANTA (September 4, 2007) - With a grant award of $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation, Spelman College is launching an innovative initiative that will increase informatics education and research for its students. 

   The first HBCU to focus on the burgeoning field of informatics – the science of information – the Advancing Spelman’s Participation in Informatics Research and Education project has the unique approach of developing informatics knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics students and faculty in order to increase cross-discipline research and expertise. 

   “The ASPIRE project's focus on interdisciplinary informatics education and research addresses the critical need for scientists to be able to analyze, organize, and visualize the vast amounts of data being generated in diverse fields,” said Lily McNair, associate provost of research. “Spelman students in the sciences and mathematics will be at the center of informatics education, given the integrated, cross-departmental curricular enhancements and interdisciplinary research partnerships being established.” 

   Spelman’s ASPIRE project, whose principal investigator is Johnnella Butler, provost, and co-investigators Tasha Inniss, assistant professor of mathematics, and Andrew Williams, associate professor of computer and information sciences, launches during the 2007-2008 academic year and will concentrate on development of new interdisciplinary informatics curricula that strengthens students’ computational analytical skills. 

   “Our students are living in the information age and need to be prepared to work in the global ‘high information’ industry and not just ‘high tech,’” said professor Williams. “If you see what is happening with companies such as Google or research in genomic medicine, there’s a need for students to be able to adequately analyze, organize, and extract knowledge from data to work in interdisciplinary teams.” 

   The commitment to interdisciplinary was evidenced since the development of the proposal, which was done using a team approach, with faculty members from biology, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, mathematics and physics. 

   To aid in building its ASPIRE project, Spelman has partnered with several academic institutions and companies that utilize informatics in their respective environments. These institutions and companies include: Fort Valley State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Indiana University, Princeton University, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of the Virgin Islands, University of Washington, Virginia Tech University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Coca-Cola Company and Pfizer. 

   “Having trained and placed a significant number of women of color in underrepresented scientific and technology fields, Spelman was ready to take its sphere of influence to the next level,” said professor Inniss. “Our long-range goal is to increase the quality and quantity of African-American women who pursue STEM-related advanced degrees and fields, particularly in interdisciplinary areas.”