University Park, PA -- 15th Annual Penn State McNair Research Conference to Connect Nation's Next Generation of Scholars
More than 200 undergraduate students representing over 50 colleges and universities nationwide will gather August 3-5, 2007 at the Penn Stater Conference Center for the 15th Annual Penn State McNair Research Conference. These students, commonly known as McNair Scholars, will present their summer research findings to a national audience; network with professionals and other students in their areas of discipline; and meet with graduate school representatives from around the country, as well as learn from experts on how to best prepare for graduate school.
The McNair Research Conference at Penn State is part of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a national initiative to prepare low-income and first-generation college students who are underrepresented in graduate schools to enter doctoral programs and succeed. Dr. Ronald E. McNair was a member of the crew of the Challenger space shuttle that was destroyed upon launch in the 1986 explosion. Currently, 180 colleges and universities across the country, including Penn State, host McNair programs. At Penn State, the McNair conference sponsors are the Graduate School, through its Office of Graduate Educational Equity Programs, and the Office of the Vice Provost of Educational Equity, as well as Penn State’s McNair Scholars Program.
The keynote speaker for this conference is Dr. Guion S. Bluford, Jr., founder and president of The Aerospace Technology Group (ATG), an aerospace technology and business consulting organization specializing in aviation and space related technology development, analysis, and marketing related activities. Dr. Bluford, a Penn State distinguished alumnus and former colleague and friend of Dr. McNair, was a NASA mission specialist and payload commander astronaut on four Space Shuttle missions. He was selected in the first class of space shuttle astronauts in 1978 and was the first African American to fly in space in 1983 aboard Space Shuttle Challenger. He has over 688 hours in space. Dr. Bluford also served 29 years in the United States Air Force as an Air Force tactical fighter pilot in Vietnam, instructor pilot, staff development engineer, Branch Chief of the Aerodynamics and Airframe Branch of the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory and NASA Astronaut. He has over 5,200 hours of jet flight in ten different aircraft.
Penn State faculty and staff interested in attending the students’ research presentations are invited to stop by the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on Saturday, August 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Student oral presentations will run in 90-minute panel sessions of four students each. The morning sessions run from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. and 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.; the afternoon sessions run 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Poster presentations will be available from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. A conference schedule of student presenters and their research topics and abstracts will be available at the registration desk area. It may also be accessed after July 20, on the conference’s Web site.
For more information about this conference or the Penn State Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, contact the McNair Scholars Program Director Teresa Tassotti at (814) 863-8195 or visit the conference Web site.
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Contacts:
Teresa Tassotti, Conference Co-Chair
814-863-8195
Curtis Price, Conference Co-Chair
814-863-4289
Release Date: July 18, 2007