May 16, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - A Western Kentucky University faculty member has been invited to participate in a workshop in Tanzania that will promote partnerships between African and American scientists.
Dr. Charles McGruder, the William McCormack Professor in Physics at WKU, will speak at the Science, Technology and Innovations Workshop scheduled for May 29-30 at the Kibo Palace Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.
The workshop is being organized by the government of Tanzania in collaboration with the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation. The mission of the Sullivan Foundation is to leverage the commitment and resources of Africans for positive change in the world.
About 100 African and American scientists are expected to attend the two-day workshop. Themes for the workshop include developing and promoting effective partnerships between scientists and how science, technology and innovation can be a driver and engine of development in Africa.
Recommendations and resolutions from the workshop will be presented during the 8th Sullivan Foundation Summit June 2-6 in Arusha. The summit will bring together the world’s political and business leaders, including more than 10 African heads of state, and more than 500 participants representing national and international civil and multinational organizations, and members of academic institutions in order to focus attention and resources on Africa’s economic and social development.
The invitation to speak in Tanzania continues Dr. McGruder’s interest in increasing the number of minorities in science-related fields especially in Africa.
In 2007, he received a six-year, $350,000 from the Kellogg Foundation to help South Africa increase its number of black astronomers.
More information about the Sullivan Foundation is available online at http://www.thesullivanfoundation.org/foundation/.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Physics and Astronomy at (270) 745-4357.
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