Letter from the Director
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the McNair Program encourages and empowers undergraduates who are members of groups underrepresented in the ranks of the American faculty to pursue careers in academia. This goal is supported through several different avenues throughout the summer experience. In addition to conducting their own research project, students also attend motivational and informational workshops and symposiums on this campus as well as a first week retreat at Lake Lawn Resort in Delavan, Wisconsin and visits to both the University of Wisconsin in May and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in June. In August scholars will attend The Ohio State University’s Annual Graduate School McNair visitation program.
Our summer Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program would not be nearly as successful, nor would the program even be possible, without the support of many individuals and departments across the University of Illinois campus. In particular, we would like to thank the faculty mentors, the administrative staff of the library, the Grants and Contracts Office, the Graduate College, the Department of Plant Biology, The U.S. Department of Education, the Council for Opportunity in Education, and the Microsoft Corporation. We especially wish to thank the following professors and professionals (as well as the many graduate students in various labs and offices) who provided direct assistance to the McNair Scholars and/or rendered special technical assistance, which enabled us to achieve the goals set forth by the program.
