GTE awards $420,000 grant to the United Negro College Fund, expands the UNCF/GTE Science Program.
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IRVING, Texas -- GTE today announced a $420,000 grant to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) for expansion of the UNCF/GTE Summer Science Program that brings together UNCF students and GTE scientists for technology research.
GTE, in collaboration with the UNCF, is expanding the program from five to eight weeks and increasing student scholarships to $3,500. The grant also provides $50,000 of scholarship support for UNCF schools.
Each year, 20 African-American students and three faculty members from UNCF-supported schools participate in the UNCF/GTE Summer Science Program, held at GTE Laboratories and GTE Internetworking locations in the Boston area. Mentored by GTE scientists, students learn how applied communications research is conducted using the latest telecommunications and computer technologies.
Through the UNCF/GTE Summer Science Program, GTE and UNCF aim to encourage talented students to pursue advanced studies in science, engineering or mathematics for application in business, industry or teaching.
"We all agreed that while five weeks provided students with a strong learning experience, an eight-week period would allow a deeper immersion in the technology," said Maureen V. Gorman, vice president of the GTE Foundation. "Now, students will have more time alongside GTE scientists exploring advances in telecommunications and Internet technology."
GTE has contributed $1.9 million to the UNCF/GTE Summer Science Program since starting the program in 1989. To date, 174 students at 24 UNCF campuses have successfully completed the summer session. Program graduates receive a stipend plus a scholarship for the next academic year. In 2000, the scholarships will increase from $2,500 to $3,500.
"The UNCF/GTE Summer Science Program opened my eyes to career possibilities I never knew existed," said Gerard Bonner, a Virginia Union University student who completed the program in 1998.
About the GTE Foundation
The GTE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of GTE Corporation, is one of the largest corporate contributors in the United States, providing $32 million in 2000 to charitable and educational institutions on behalf of GTE and its thousands of employees.
