Athens, GA-The University of Georgia Franklin Visiting Scholars Program will present a lecture by Michael F. Summers promoting STEM education among minority students on Jan. 30 at 2:30 p.m. in Masters Hall at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The lecture is free and the public invited to attend.
Summers, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, will also present a seminar about his research on how retroviruses, such as HIV, recognize, package, and assemble genetic material for the propagation of infection. “Insights into the Structural Basis and Mechanism of HIV-1 Genome Packaging” will be presented Jan. 31at 3:30pm in Room C127 of the Life Sciences building.
Summers’ STEM lecture is titled, “The Meyerhoff Scholars: Successful Programs for Preparing a Diverse STEM Workforce.” The Meyerhoff Scholars Program, a scholarship support program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County started in 1989, provides financial assistance, mentoring, advising, and research experience to African American male undergraduate students committed to obtaining Ph.D. degrees in math, science, and engineering.
“This lecture will appeal to students contemplating a career in science, technology, engineering or math; faculty involved in teaching STEM subjects, faculty and administrators creating infrastructure to support diversity in STEM education; and anyone with an interest in partnering with the Meyerhoff Program,” said Jim Prestegard, Eminent Scholar Professor in the department of chemistry and host for Summers’ visit to UGA.
Summers is a recipient of the White House Presidential Award for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, the American Society for Microbiology Hinton Award for Mentoring, the Mentor Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, most recently, the 2013 Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
This event is jointly sponsored by the UGA chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry and molecular biology departments as well as by the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
The Franklin Visiting Scholars program assists faculty in bringing outstanding scholars, who are also diversity champions and leaders on their campuses and in their disciplines, to UGA. Franklin Visiting Scholars assist units in developing diverse professional networks for both faculty and graduate student recruitment, development, and retention; inform units about effective discipline-based strategies for creating a climate for diversity and inclusion; and assist in developing new collaborations.
