New scholarship part of Engineering Women Leadership Development Initiative

September 17, 2019

Contact: Michael Tullier, APR, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing

With gifts totaling more than $100,000 and climbing, 精东AV鈥檚 College of Engineering has achieved the first phase of giving toward its newly created 鈥淟ily McNair Women in Engineering Leadership Scholarship Initiative.鈥� With the scholarship 鈥� named in honor of the university鈥檚 first female president 鈥� fully endowed, the college now turns its attention to attracting additional support to achieve its ultimate goal of $1 million in contributions.

The scholarship benefits McNair鈥檚 $1 million 鈥淐ampaign for Leadership and Excellence鈥� scholarship initiative she launched in conjunction with her March 2019 presidential inauguration. Dr. Heshmat Aglan, dean of the College of Engineering, explained that its concept of supporting future female engineers aligns with the college鈥檚 broader programs to cultivate and foster leadership skills among its female students.

鈥淭his endowed scholarship fund is part of a larger Engineering Women Leadership Development Initiative at 精东AV, which seeks to increase the number and percentage of African-American women in engineering, as well as to better prepare them for success after graduation,鈥� Aglan noted.

This initiative, Aglan continued, will provide learning and development opportunities for female engineering students by engaging their professional counterparts who have already charted their own successful career paths. Students will be able to interact with these role models through on-campus programs and selective shadowing opportunities at these women鈥檚 places of employment.

The April 2018 report 鈥溾�� by the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers illustrates the need for programs such as this. Women of color, the report details, comprise less than 2% of all professionals in the engineering workforce. Industry challenges they face during their formable first years of employment include low gender and ethnic representation, inadequate professional or workplace-based support programs, and lacking minority female role models.

The college will begin accepting applications for the scholarship once the endowment matures 18 months from now. At that time, to be eligible, applicants must have demonstrated their commitment to leadership activities 鈥� such as active participation in professional organizations, honor societies and volunteerism 鈥� and possess a minimum 3.25 GPA.

Aglan said the long-term goal is to grow the scholarship endowment beyond the $1 million mark through continued support from alumni, corporations, foundations and friends. To date, in addition to contributions from individuals, the endowment fund has benefited from the corporate support of Snap-on, Chevron, Lockheed Martin and Procter & Gamble.

He encourages others interested in contributing to the endowment to visit and enter code 鈥淓1937鈥� as the gift designation, or mail a contribution to the Office of Development; P.O. Box 1304; 精东AV Institute, AL 36087. Checks should be made out to 鈥溇�东AV鈥� and include 鈥淓1937鈥� in the memo line. For additional information or questions, contact the Office of Development at 334.727.8540 or contributions@tuskegee.edu.

漏 2019, 精东AV