CONGRESSMAN BISHOP ANNOUNES NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION FUNDS TO HELP FVSU SUPPORT STEM HIGHER EDUCATION IN MIDDLE GEORGIA

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) is pleased to announce that Fort Valley State University (FVSU) has been awarded $398,058 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This award will be used to encourage and support underrepresented students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education degrees and careers.

“I am glad to announce that the National Science Foundation is making this investment in Fort Valley State University so that it can recruit more students to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, also known as STEM, fields. These fields are vital to America’s national security and economic prosperity,” said Congressman Bishop. “In the past two years, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS & Science Act bringing a resurgence of manufacturing jobs in America, including in Middle and Southwest Georgia. Drawing from the full range of our community’s youth, colleges and universities will ensure that Georgia has the skilled workers needed for these jobs and our economy.”

“This grant will facilitate the transfer of students interested in pursuing STEM degrees from nearby two-year colleges, namely Central Georgia Technical College and Gordon College to Fort Valley State University. The program will attract talented students and provide them with enrichment activities to ensure their academic success at FVSU and beyond,” said Biology professors Seema Dhir and Kaneatra Simmons, Ph.D., as well as Celia Dodd, Ph.D., in the Department of Natural and Computational Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences.

Associate Professor Dhir, Dr. Simmons, and Dr. Dodd are the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigators leading the project supported by the grant.

Through this grant, FVSU will improve its outreach efforts to engage underrepresented and nontraditional students – including minorities and veterans – into STEM education programs. These students will benefit from enhanced STEM curriculum as well as workshops, research experience, and scientific exchange opportunities with fellow STEM students and scientists at research conferences. The students will also receive career guidance to connect their education with new and high-demand STEM jobs as well as graduate studies in the field.

Established by Congress in 1950, NSF is an independent federal agency that provides grants, contracts and cooperative agreements to fund research and education in the science and engineering fields. NSF funding accounts for around 25% of federal funding to academic institutions for basic research.

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