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Gary S. May, professor and Steve W. Chaddick chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the 2006 Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science during its annual meeting in February.
The Mentor Award recognizes extraordinary leadership to increase the involvement of underrepresented groups in science and engineering fields.
May, EE 85, founded and directs two Georgia Tech programs that increase the diversity of people pursuing advanced studies in engineering: SURE and FACES, both funded by the National Science Foundation.
He launched Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science in 1992 and modeled the program on one he had developed as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. May established Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science at Tech in 1998.
SURE is a 10-week summer program of full-time research for minority undergraduates teamed with faculty and graduate student mentors. Ninety percent of participants go on to graduate school.
May learned in January that the NSF has granted three years of funding for SURE International, which will include summer undergraduate research at the Georgia Tech Lorraine campus in Metz, France.
"SURE International adds a globalization component to our students' undergraduate research experience," May said. "Through the NSF grant, we will give five students per year the opportunity to perform research overseas. These students will work with the faculty at Georgia Tech Lorraine as well as with our partner laboratories."
FACES also encourages minorities to pursue advanced degrees and has an added goal of increasing the number of underrepresented students who choose academic careers in engineering or science. The program is a collaborative effort among Georgia Tech, Morehouse College, Emory University and Spelman College.
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