A competitive U.S. Department of Education program that prepares undergraduate students interested in careers in academic research has selected 16 undergraduate students from The University of Texas at Arlington to join. One of those students is a graduate of North Garland High School, Gobellan Rodriguez Florencio, who is currently a junior psychology major at the university. The McNair Scholars Program was named for physicist and astronaut Ronald E. McNair, the second Black astronaut in U.S. history and one of several crew members killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986.
The program assists qualified first-generation college students and/or members of historically underrepresented groups in pursuing doctoral degrees. It is part of the federal TRIO program that has helped nearly 900,000 students pursue their dreams of advanced education.
“The McNair Scholars Program has been proven to be a great way for undergraduate students considering a career in academia to get a taste of how scientific research is conducted and see first-hand the real-world impacts that can come from it,” said Kayunta Johnson-Winters, interim dean of undergraduate research at UTA and associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
McNair’s brother Carl, founder of the McNair Scholars Program, recently visited UTA to speak to students and encourage them to apply.
“He advised our students to seize opportunities like this award, as they won’t win opportunities if they don’t apply,” Johnson-Winters said.
As part of the program, the 16 students will receive a stipend of $4,000 each and participate in a summer research internship on UTA’s Arlington campus under the mentorship of a faculty member. Students will receive academic counseling, free travel to McNair research conferences, mentoring help from UTA faculty, graduate school application advice and fee waivers for various additional educational applications.
Scholars also benefit from close working relationships with both the UTA faculty advising the McNair Scholars and the high-achieving McNair alumni network around the world.