Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

ORAU and Thurgood Marshall College Fund Join Forces to Expand STEM Opportunities

  • 04/05/19

OAK RIDGE, TN – Our nation’s historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving educational institutions are often untapped resources abounding in talent, ingenuity, and expertise, but often lacking in the material resources necessary for scientific research. Tapping into those resources is a big part of the reason Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) officially began a working relationship with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Oak Ridge, TN, on Friday, March 29, 2019.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is the nation’s largest organization exclusively supporting all 47 public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). ORAU is a national leader in connecting the best and most diverse students, recent graduates, faculty members, and professionals with meaningful mentored research experiences at national labs and other federal research facilities around the country.

“This is a historic day for us,” said Dr. N. Joyce Payne, who founded TMCF in 1987. “We’ve not had the opportunity to operate at this level in terms of an organization that has so much prestige as ORAU. ORAU has been in the business for 75 years, and has been changing the world, producing the kind of research that makes life easier and more prosperous for Americans. We hope to bring talent to this process and find ways to collaborate so we can continue to change the world as ORAU has done.”

The spirit of collaboration will be a driving force in ORAU’s relationship with TMCF campuses.

“I say this all the time: we can’t do this alone,” says Andy Page, president and CEO of ORAU. “Our pursuit of enhancing research participation programs and creating change in young students’ lives is not a challenge we can do alone. We’re always seeking like-minded organizations that are in the same pursuit as we are.”

TMCF offers a tremendous opportunity for HBCUs and gives ORAU the ability to bring those HBCUs into our 100-plus-member university consortium. Students and faculty at TMCF schools will have the opportunity to be part of ORAU’s research participation programs, most of which are administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, a Department of Energy asset managed by ORAU.

The students at TMCF schools are ready for opportunities like those offered through research participation programs, as are their leaders, says Dr. Harry L. Williams, TMCF president. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem convincing students to [apply for opportunities],” he says. “I think there’s going to be overflow. By communicating with our member presidents, they are going to see this as an incredible win for their institutions and for their faculty.”

To learn more about the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, visit www.tmcf.org.

ORAU provides innovative scientific and technical solutions to advance national priorities in science, education, security, and health. Through specialized teams of experts, unique laboratory capabilities, and access to a consortium of more than 100 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local, and commercial customers to advance national priorities and serve the public interest. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and federal contractor, ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Featured

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Houston-Area High School Breaks Ground on 117,000SF Multi-Use Facility

    North Shore Senior High School, part of Galena Park ISD in Houston, Texas, recently broke ground on a new multi-use facility for student extracurriculars, according to a news release. The North Shore Multi-Use Facility will include dedicated practice and training space for the school’s athletics and fine arts programs.

  • Harvard Announces Replacement Facility for Native American Program

    Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced that construction will begin this spring on a new home for its Native American Program, according to university news. The 6,500-square-foot, all-electric building will stand three stories and serve as the central hub for the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP).

  • California K–12 District Finishes Renovations on Multi-Sport Stadium

    The Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) in Alameda, Calif., recently announced the completion of a renovation project on the Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School stadium, according to a news release. The district partnered with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and Bothman Construction on the facility, and funding came from Bond Measure B.