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Prominent educator to address increasing participation in math, sciences

By Kari VanDerVeen
October 2, 2008

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will discuss the participation and performance of underrepresented populations in the field of science and math education during the Oct. 4 plenary address for the dedication of the new Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at St. Olaf College.

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The lecture, titled "Liberal Education and Science for the 21st Century," will begin at 2 p.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel. It will be streamed live and archived online. A light reception will follow. Dr. Hrabowski's speech will serve as the capstone for a weekend of activities to celebrate and dedicate St. Olaf College's new science complex.

Dr. Hrabowski has served as president of UMBC since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on the participation and performance of underrepresented populations. A nationally recognized advocate for improvements in science and math education, Dr. Hrabowski serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally. He also sits on several corporate and civic boards, including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Constellation Energy Group, the France-Merrick Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation (as chair), McCormick & Company, and the Urban Institute.

He has authored numerous articles and co-authored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds, that focus on parenting and high-achieving African Americans in science.

In addition to being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Hrabowski has received the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education; the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring; and the Columbia University Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service. He also holds a number of honorary degrees from institutions that include Haverford College, Princeton University, Duke University, the University of Illinois, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Gallaudet University, Goucher College, the Medical University of South Carolina, and Binghamton University.

Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Ala., Dr. Hrabowski was a child-leader in the Civil Rights Movement and was prominently featured in Spike Lee's 1997 documentary, Four Little Girls, on the racially motivated bombing in 1963 of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. He graduated at age 19 from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his M.A. in mathematics and four years later, at age 24, his Ph.D. in higher education administration/statistics.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.