University Park -- McNair Scholars to Present Research Findings
More than 200 undergraduate students representing over 50 colleges and universities nationwide will gather July 28-30th at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel for the Fourteenth Annual Penn State McNair Research Conference. These students, generally 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.
Penn State faculty and staff interested in attending the students’ research presentations are invited to come to the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on Saturday, July 29th, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 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 also 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, and may be accessed online.
The keynote speaker for the opening night banquet is Dr. Tina Nova, founder and president/CEO of Genoptix, Inc., a prominent biotechnology firm in California. In 2005, the lieutenant governor of California appointed her to the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). CIRM was established in early 2005 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The statewide ballot measure, which was approved by California voters in 2004, provides $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions.
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 Office of the Vice Provost of Educational Equity and the Graduate School through its Office of Graduate Educational Equity Programs, as well as Penn State’s McNair Scholars Program.
For more information about the conference or the Penn State Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, contact Teresa Tassotti, McNair Scholars program director, at (814) 863-8195 or visit the conference Web site.
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Contacts:
Teresa Tassotti, Conference Co-Chair
863-8195
Curtis Price, Conference Co-Chair
863-4289
Release Date: July 18, 2006