Transformation of Louisiana State University: The Best University in the Country for African Americans to earn PhDs in Chemistry Isiah M. Warner, Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University presented to Dept. of Chemistry, U. Wisconsin, Madison, WI, May 24, 2005

African American Chemists US

Problems for Recruiting Minorities Building A Critical Mass –Active recruiting Shortage of Role-Models at Major Universities –Minority faculty at Top 50 Universities (Science, 292, 1292, 2001) Admission Standards Culturally Biased (?) –GRE Scores (Are they a true reflection of Graduate school success?) Good Students Do Not Come Solely from Research I Universities –HBCUs and smaller universities (non-PhD institutions)

LSU Graduate Program Historical Context LSU - Developments in the 90's Chemistry - Profile of the 90's Success Factors

CAP 1991 –Cooperative Assistantships for HBCU students Huel Perkins 1994 –Fellowships for African American Doctoral Students External (McNair, GEM, NSF, NIH) Minority Infrastructure in the 90's - –OMA, AACC, BFSC, many student organizations –Intercampus initiatives –Vice Chancellor for Diversity Milestones LSU

LSU Selection Criteria GPA Letters of Reference GRE (Verbal and Quantitative) Personal Interview CHEM

LSU Success Factors Mentoring and Support Proximity of HBCUs Critical Mass Faculty Collusion Self-Sustained Recruiting Employability CHEM

The First 20 Years to Richard Evans, PhD, Mildred Smalley, PhD, Don Prier, PhD, PhD Degrees:

33 PhD Degrees 11 MS Degrees The Next 20 Years to 2005

Success Rates

HBCU's US Dillard Grambling Southern NO Southern BR Southern Shreveport Xavier Alcorn Jackson State Mississippi Valley Tougaloo Prairie View Texas Southern

The Transformation of LSU Chemistry Continues