Recent Awards
By David Gonnerman '90
December 20, 2007
Two newly awarded grants to St. Olaf College will help open career paths for traditionally underrepresented students. A National Science Foundation S-STEM grant will support a program called "Biologists for the Future" that encourages students to pursue careers in biology. The second grant, a TRiO/McNair grant through the U.S. Department of Education, will support a program designed to spur students to pursue teaching careers in higher education. Aimed at first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students, the grants together enhance the college's growing emphasis on promoting diversity.
The NSF "Biologists for the Future" award draws upon St. Olaf's nationally recognized strengths in interdisciplinary and research-focused science education. The NSF grant of $600,000 over five years is part of the national STEM initiative that seeks to increase study in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The grant to St. Olaf will provide scholarships and special support for about a dozen biology students annually. Recipients will benefit from supplemental instruction, career exploration and a new summer course focused on writing for science. Other activities will include career-oriented field trips, seminars, workshops and involvement in summer research and internships.
The U.S. DOE McNair Scholars Program is a federally funded national program that encourages low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students to pursue doctoral study and consider careers in higher education. The $1.2 million, five-year St. Olaf grant is set to support 27 undergraduate students annually as they gain research experience and undergo rigorous preparation for graduate school. McNair Scholars will participate in career-oriented internships and be paired with faculty mentors who share research interests.
The new grants are part of a set of programs that together will help make St. Olaf attractive to a larger and more diverse pool of prospective students. Existing programs include the $500,000 four-year S-STEM grant from the National Science Foundation that began this academic year. Called "Encouraging Careers in the Mathematical Sciences," the grant includes scholarship and other forms of support for 12-15 students annually (currently 13) who demonstrate financial need -- especially students from tradionally underrepresented groups.
By Lyndel Owens '10
December 5, 2007
St. Olaf College's Flaten Art Museum will receive approximately 150 original Polaroid photographs and gelatin silver prints from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in time for the holidays. The museum is among the 183 college and university art galleries nationwide selected to receive a total of 28,543 pieces with a value of more than $28 million dollars.
The Andy Warhol Foundation, which aims to support art through cultural organizations that funnel the money toward individual artists, is enacting the giveaway to mark its 20th anniversary. Since its inception in 1987, the New York City foundation has gifted more than $200 million to "foster artistic expression and the creative process."
