White House Hosts College Completion Summit
BU IN DC
Robert Stern of the School of Medicine participated in the Safe Sports Think Tank conference on concussions in youth sports on November 24.
Allen Mitchell and Carol Louik of the Slone Epidemiology Center discussed medication safety for pregnant women with Food and Drug Administration officials and Congressional staff on December 4 and 5.
Linda Hyman of the School of Medicine attended the Council on Graduate Schools annual meeting on December 4 and 5.
WHITE HOUSE HOSTS COLLEGE COMPLETION SUMMIT
On Thursday, leaders from academia, industry and nonprofit organizations gathered at the White House to announce pledges to improve college preparedness and completion rates for low-income students. The White House College Day of Action was similar to a summit held in January, and President Barack Obama used the opportunity to describe the progress of the pledges made earlier this year. The White House also announced a $30 million fund to expand mentoring opportunities between AmeriCorps members and low-income students, a $10 million college completion research program through the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and a Pell grant pilot program for high school students taking college courses.
NEW LEADER FOR USAID GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT LAB
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced Monday that Ann Mei Chang will become the executive director of the U.S. Global Development Lab, the agency’s initiative to foster innovative technologies and programs to end extreme poverty by 2030. Ms. Chang is currently the chief innovation officer at Mercy Corps, and previously served as a senior advisor for women and technology at the U.S. State Department and a senior engineering director at Google. Ms. Chang will begin her post next month and indicates the lab will fund “ideas that may seem crazy initially,” but have the potential for big impact.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced a new solicitation for publishing humanities-focused nonfiction books that appeal to a broad audience. In announcing the Public Scholar program, NEH Chairman Bro Adams said, “…we hope to challenge humanities scholars to think creatively about how specialized research can benefit a wider public.” The NEH anticipates awarding monthly stipends of $4,200 for six to twelve months. Applicants must already be published with a university or commercial press, or have published widely-available articles and essays. The deadline for applying is March 15, 2015.