National Science Foundation awards The Citadel nearly $600,000 for civil engineering STEM scholarships

CHARLESTON, SC – June 9, 2011 – The National Science Foundation has awarded The Citadel’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering a five-year grant totaling $593,250 to provide undergraduate scholarships to outstanding, but socioeconomically disadvantaged, minority and female students in South Carolina.

The grant was awarded through the NSF program Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM). Citadel Professors Dr. Kevin C. Bower, Dr. W. Jeffrey Davis and Dr. Jane Warner will serve as principal investigators and will direct the grant program that will focus on student academic achievement, professional mentoring and career development.

Citadel President Lt. Gen. John W. Rosa (pictured left) said the scholarship program is a great opportunity for The Citadel to fulfill its mission and vision to create educational opportunities for South Carolina citizens to become principled leaders in all walks of life.

“By supporting students with real financial need who aspire to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), we are helping create the work force that South Carolina needs for the 21st century, consistent with what Gov. Nikki Haley is advocating as a priority for higher education,” Rosa said. “The Citadel is very excited to have its STEM Center of Excellence receive this important grant to provide direct assistance to the many talented students in need of assistance to pursue their dream for a higher education.”

The Citadel’s S-STEM grant program will partner with The Citadel’s College Success Institute, which was created in 1997 to prepare entering freshmen for the college’s academic and military demands. Scholarship recipients will receive mentoring and academic support from campus leaders as well as Lowcountry engineering professionals during their four years at The Citadel and after graduation. Assimilating scholarship recipients into The Citadel’s robust civil engineering program, rigorous STEM curriculum, and character-building campus life will lead to development of technically proficient, principled leaders and effective community role models.

This grant represents the first major commitment to The Citadel’s newly established STEM Center of Excellence. It compliments the Raytheon Scholars program, established in 2008 with a $500,000 gift from the Raytheon Corp. to provide scholarship support for minority and female students studying STEM disciplines at The Citadel.

For more information about The Citadel’s STEM Center for Excellence, please visit http://www.citadel.edu/stemcenter/.