The Henry Luce Foundation’s Clare Boothe Luce Program has awarded Loyola University Maryland a $500,000 grant to support the creation of two professorships for women in the sciences. The grant, which will be distributed over the course of five years, will support the addition of one faculty member each in the University’s computer science and engineering departments.
“The United States is facing a critical shortage of professionals in the science and technology fields,” said University President Brian F. Linnane, S.J. “Strengthening our science programs to give students the resources and experiences they need to succeed in these in-demand professions is a key part of our strategic plan, and these new faculty positions will make a significant difference in our ability to meet our goals in the sciences.”
The University expects to add the tenure-track faculty positions in the fall 2011 semester.
“This award will have a tremendous impact on science programs at Loyola, but perhaps more importantly, it allows us to strengthen our contribution to humankind by enhancing the quality of scientific inquiry,” said Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., Loyola’s vice president for academic affairs. “Increased success of women in the sciences brings many opportunities to improve our quality of life, through scientific scholarship, for those here today and for those to come. In encouraging academic environments in which women can engage in innovative research and thrive, the Clare Boothe Luce Program does more than simply improve resources for its beneficiary institutions—it makes a vital contribution to all of society.”
Established in 1989 by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Clare Boothe Luce Program is named for Time Inc. co-founder Henry Luce’s widow, a playwright, journalist, U.S. ambassador to Italy, and Connecticut’s first female U.S. Representative. Her bequest creating the program is intended to encourage women to enter, study, graduate, and teach in the sciences. Its grants support undergraduate scholarships, graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, and professorships. At least 50 percent of the awards go to Catholic colleges and universities.
Loyola College, the University’s school of arts and sciences, offers undergraduate majors in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematical sciences, physics, and statistics, as well as master’s programs in computer science.
For more information or questions regarding this story, contact Media Relations Manager Nick Alexopulos at nalexopulos@loyola.edu or 410-617-5025.