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5 Crucial and Unexpected Nuggets of Information That Neil deGrasse Tyson Gave to Recent Graduates

Astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson gave a commencement speech at the University of Massachusetts Amherst last week. Tyson has risen to the forefront of the science world promoting, advocating and recruiting young minds into a new world that appreciates science, technology, engineering and mathematics. His speech was one of the best this year because he was genuinely honest about the world graduates are going into.

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Notes on the American Dream 

“It is OK to encourage others to pull themselves up by the bootstraps … just remember that some people have no boots.”

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UNCF Announces Michael Jackson and Ray Charles Scholarships

The United Negro College Fund strives to make education affordable for African-American students by providing financial resources where other scholarship organizations fall short.

On May 19, the UNCF has announced that singer, dancer and King of Pop Michael Jackson along with R&B legend Ray Charles will have scholarships in their honor. Each scholarship has different requirements. However, both scholarships are only awarded to students who attend UNCF colleges and universities.

The Michael Jackson Scholarship is available to all students who are high school seniors and college students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 on the 4.0 scale. Perspective applicants will need to complete an application on the UNCF site, write an essay and submit a transcript.

The UNCF states that “the scholarship will provide an award up to $5,000 depending on the financial need of the student as verified by the attending university or college. This is a one-time award to be disbursed in September 2015.”

The Ray Charles Endowed Scholarship is for college juniors who have a 3.0. Perspective applicants will have to complete an application and demonstrate unmet financial needs. The total amount awarded to the student is up to $4,500.

Both of these scholarships are due in June. Michael Jackson Scholarship applicants would need to complete all materials by June 13. For the Ray Charles Endowed Scholarship, the date is June 14.

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Two Black Scholars Elected Members of the National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences, a prestigious organization founded on March 3, 1863, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, features this nation’s finest scientists. During the Civil War, Sen. Henry Wilson helped create the bill that would bring the NAS to reality.

The organization strives to elect the most distinguished and most qualified scientists. This year, it added two Black scientists who fit that criteria. Scott V. Edwards and Jennifer A. Richeson are currently the only Black scientists who are part of the organization.

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Edwards is currently the Alexander Agassiz professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University. In addition to his work as a professor, he is the curator of birds for the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. “A native of Hawaii, Edwards is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard. He earned a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Edwards has been on the faculty at Harvard University since 2003,” according the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

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Richeson is the endowed chair of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in psychology at Northwestern University. At the university, she also teaches African-American studies. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education goes on to say that Richeson has been on the faculty at Northwestern since 2005. Previously, “she taught at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dr. Richeson is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University.”

The two were officially inducted as members of the NAS on May 11.

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Georgia Tech Highlights Black Men in STEM

For almost a decade, the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees awarded to Black males has not increased nationwide.

So Georgia Tech put together a national panel May 5 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the issue and provide solutions to increase the graduation rates of Black men in STEM fields. The panel was led by Gary May, dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. In fact, the majority of the panel was made up of Black men working in STEM.

According to Georgia Institute Technology News, “joining May on the panel were: Rodney Adkins, former senior vice president of IBM and a Georgia Tech alumnus; Reginald DesRoches, Karen and John Huff School Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech; Jeremy Feaster, Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering at Stanford University; Darryll Pines, dean of the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland; Guy Primus, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Virtual Reality Company; Karl Reid, executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers; Cedric Stallworth, assistant dean for outreach, enrollment and community for the College of Computing at Georgia Tech; John Silvanus Wilson Jr., president of Morehouse College; and Kyle Woumn, computer science major at Georgia Tech.”

The panel discussed reasons why many Black males fall behind in STEM fields. The panelists discussed how they succeeded and what solutions could help increase numbers. They also emphasized the need for mentors, hands-on STEM programs in K-12 programs to get young people interested, and they wanted corporations and parents to get involved.

Blerds has covered STEM, discussed solutions for the issues and provided examples of successful Black men and women of all ages in STEM.

Georgia Tech is one example of Black people helping Black people to expand STEM careers to younger people. It is quite possible other institutions of higher learning will discuss and take action to include more Black males in STEM.

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This Amazing 23-Year-Old Defied the Odds to Graduate College While Living in a Homeless Shelter


ABC News Videos | ABC Entertainment News

On a sunny Southern California Saturday, 23-year-old Kenneth Chancey donned a cap and gown and was handed his degree as he crossed the Loyola Marymount University stage.

But the road to get there wasn’t as picture-perfect.

When he was 11, Chancey lived on the streets. When he was 14 and 15, and transitioning out of foster care, he says he was forced to sleep on Los Angeles city buses.

“That was my lowest point, not having anywhere to go. And just saying, we’re sleeping on the bus,” Chancey said.

Source: www.abcnews.go.com

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MESSENGER Spacecraft Uncovers New Information About Mercury

The planet Mercury has been a mystery to astronomers for a long time. NASA spacecraft MESSENGER has revealed new information that will help future generations understand the planet.

The closest planet to the sun may have a liquid core and ancient magnetic field that is an estimated 4 billion years old. That means that the magnetic field is older than the Earth itself.

“MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and spent a decade in space, orbiting Mercury for a total of four years. It has provided more data about the planet than any other mission to date, sending vast quantities of data back to Earth until it ran out of fuel. The mission had only been meant to last a year,” explains Dan Taylor for the National Monitor.

The planet does not change as much as others in the solar system. The elevation relatively goes unchanged for long periods of time. This contrasts with the landscape of Mars.

According to Tony D. Booth for Market Business, “The planet’s crust is large relative to the planet, comprising 85 percent of the planet’s radius, much more than Earth. The findings suggest that a layer of liquid iron sulfide lies beneath Mercury’s crust, which would make the planet much different from the other terrestrial planets.”

It is quite possible that what we know about Mercury will change in the very near future. Its behavior requires much more attention and observation.

 

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10 Top Historically Black Colleges and Universities That Receive the Most Alumni Financial Support

As college tuition costs rise nationwide, predominately white institutions continue to see a spike in attendance. However, historically Black colleges and universities are suffering from a lack of funds and lower attendance rates. Even in these hard times, HBCU alumni still stand by their schools by opening their pocketbooks and giving back what they can. According to a 2014 analysis by U.S. News & World Report, “more than 12 percent of alumni, on average, donated to each school.” The report is a sample of alumni donations for both 2010-11 and 2011-12. The schools below were the top institutions with active alumni donors out of 45 ranked schools by U.S. News & World Report.

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In the two-year period, 43 percent of alumni donated to the university. Claflin University is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and has 1,834 undergraduates, according to 2015 data. The university also has an estimated $200 million endowment.

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Spelman College

Atlanta-based Spelman College has an estimated $330 million endowment and has 2,200 undergraduates as of 2015. The college received donations from 37.3 percent of its alumni, according to U.S News & World Report.

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