STEM Scholars Impact

The inaugural class of STEM Scholars met for a leadership summit July 29-31, 2016, in Atlanta, where they met one another, mapped out academic and career goals, and heard from African American experts within the STEM fields, including Dr. Ebony McGee, assistant professor of diversity and urban schooling at Vanderbilt University, and Dr. Karl Pendergrass, a UNCF Merck postdoctoral fellow who is director of medical affairs for the cardiovascular and metabolic disease team at Merck. Fund II Foundation Executive Director Linda Wilson also welcomed the scholars at the summit. Students tapped into their entrepreneurship brainpower and participated in an ideation challenge focused on building an app from scratch.

• This year’s cohort represents 29 states, with Georgia, Maryland and Texas having the highest number of scholars per state with 14, 10 and eight respectively.
• The scholars will attend 71 different elite colleges and universities
• Seven historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Of those, five are UNCF-supported HBCUs: Morehouse College, Spelman College, Tuskegee University, Wilberforce University and Xavier University of Louisiana.
• Thirteen scholars will attend seven of the nation’s eight Ivy League institutions.