GSSM Celebrates $200,000 Gift from BB&T Charitable Foundation
January 19, 2010
HARTSVILLE, SC – January 19, 2010 – In an effort to help launch its new Economics and Finance Institute, the S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) announced it has been awarded a $200,000 gift from the BB&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corporation.
This investment will be used as both seed money and endowment support for the Institute and is part of the GSSM Foundation’s ongoing Expect Great Things Endowment and Programming Campaign.
As a leading financial institute, BB&T understands the purpose and impact of a program like the one planned at GSSM, said Mike Brenan, president of BB&T South Carolina. We are pleased to participate through our sizeable investment and look forward to the long-term educational and economic benefits the state of South Carolina surely will see.
The BB&T investment works within the Expect Great Things campaign mission of advancing the school’s ongoing campus and curriculum expansion project by supporting the launch of an Economics and Finance Institute. Designed to enhance existing GSSM curriculum with the introduction of new learning opportunities in economics and entrepreneurship, the Institute will inspire a culture of innovation and high-tech enterprise, ultimately creating wealth for the citizens of South Carolina.
GSSM Student One of Two in State to Receive Siemens AP Award
Somin (Susie) Lee, a senior at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM), was recently named a Siemens Award for Advanced Placement winner. She will receive a $2,000 college scholarship for earning a five – the highest score possible – on advanced placement exams she took spring 2009.
The daughter of Don and Jeoung Lee of Greenville, Susie attended Christ Church Episcopal School prior to being accepted to GSSM, and is one of only two students in South Carolina to receive this distinction.
Building Exceptional Internships for GSSM Students One Partnership at a Time
In addition to official partnerships with South Carolina’s three research universities, University of South Carolina, Medical University of South Carolina and Clemson University, GSSM partners every year with corporate R&D labs across the state and beyond to give rising seniors a unique, hands-on educational opportunity and capstone experience. Through the Summer Program for Research Interns (SPRI) — a graduation requirement for students — nearly 70 students spend six weeks in corporate research and development labs, research universities and hospital cancer centers across the state under the direct supervision of established scientists.
During the internship, students conduct research on a college graduate level in fields in which they have a specific interest such as cancer research, biomedical experiments or computer science. Since SPRI’s inception in 1991, more than 1,500 students from South Carolina have participated.
If you’re a S.C. company that is interesting in partnering with this nationally recognized research program, contact Outreach Director Randy La Cross at [email protected] or 843-383-3916.
