UNH Hosts New England Consortium Of McNair Scholars April 15-16

Contact: Denise Hart
603-862-1462
UNH Media Relations

April 8, 2005



Editors, News Directors: A downloadable, high-resolution photograph of keynote speaker Carl McNair is available at:  http://www.unh.edu/news/img/diwul/carlmcnair.jpg.
 
DURHAM, N.H. –The University of New Hampshire’s McNair Graduate Opportunity Program hosts the New England Consortium of McNair Scholars Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, 2005. Forty undergraduate student scholars from UNH, the University of Vermont, Boston College, University of Massachusetts–Boston and other regional colleges will share their academic research, network with faculty, and explore graduate programs at the university.

Carl McNair

The public is invited to attend the consortium to learn about the students’ research projects at a poster session April 15, from 8-9 p.m., to listen to their oral presentations April 16,  from 9 a.m. – noon, and to hear the keynote address by Carl McNair, also April 16, at 3 p.m. All events take place in the New England Center at the Durham campus. Metered parking is available nearby, and no permits are required for UNH parking lots after 6 p.m. and on weekends.
     
UNH hosts the McNair Graduate Opportunities Program along with colleges and universities across the country. It is one of four federally funded TRIO programs at the university. The program was established in 1986 in honor of Dr. Ronald McNair, one of the seven astronauts who perished aboard the Challenger space shuttle in 1986. More than 20,000 McNair Scholar alumni have participated in the McNair Scholars Program and with more than 100 earning their doctorate degrees.
     
The UNH McNair Scholars Program has served 189 participants since its first grant award in 1991, 57 students earned master’s degrees and 13 earned academic and professional doctorate degrees. Currently, 42 of the UNH McNair Scholars alumni are pursuing graduate education and 21 are enrolled in Ph.D. programs.
    
Keynote speaker Carl McNair, the brother of Ronald E. McNair, is the founder and president of the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Foundation, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. Carl McNair is dedicated to developing and implementing educational programs that motivate and encourage students to pursue careers in science, mathematics and technology. A graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, he earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and an MBA from Babson College. McNair is the author of a new book, From Slave Ship to Space Ship, an inspirational and motivational biography of the life and achievements of his brother, due to be released next year.
     
McNair was instrumental in creating the foundation’s Space and Science Camps, the Challengers Club Science Mentoring Program, and the In-Service Teachers Training Program. He also conducts Space Science workshops for TRIO programs across the country.
    
For more information about the consortium, please contact Amanda Powell, consortium chair, at 862-0088 or visit the UNH McNair Graduate Opportunities Program website at: http://www.unh.edu/mcnair.