Higher Education

Reading List: Historical Science Contributions from Around the World (Incomplete)

Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today (Be sure to check out the references in this FASEB Journal article.)

The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance

Historical Perspectives Science, Technology and Medicine

Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern (Journal of African Civilizations)

African Origins of Science & Math (Bibliography)

An Open Letter to Jason Whitlock’s Posit on HBCUs and Their Alumni

Some things in Jason Whitlock’s post rings true; however, it lacks a bit of critical analysis of what actually happened in terms of athletics and academic development at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Whitlock failed to mention how from the 1970s until today, predominantly white institutions (PWIs) recruit black athletes for their programs very hard. While at one time many of them considered black athletes to be inferior. As always selling tickets, i.e. making money, eventually trumps bias when it comes to making profit. (Today many PWIs still have higher percentages of black athletes than they do black students overall.)

PWIs operating on large budgets have convinced most of the best black athletes to attend their schools and participate in their programs. Recruitment has become almost a quantitative mathematical process. PWIs find the talent leaves while leaving room for HBCUs or minority serving institutions (MSIs).

Calling Coach Robinson the “Knute Rockne” and Grambling the “Notre Dame” of black football is frankly an insult. Based on the talent that came out of Grambling, it was the flagship of college football, PERIOD. Likely, until the mid-1970s Grambling and many other HBCUs would have likely “beat the breaks” off any PWI that took the field. (We can find out when someone makes a reliable time machine.) I would love to have been able to see video of any PWI national champion play the black college national champion from 1920-1970.

How much wealth would HBCUs have gained if they were able to keep the past stream of athletic talent in place up until today? HBCUs would have been able to build 60,000 – 100,000 seat stadiums or arenas. Imagined 10s of millions of dollars of decades of tax exempt revenue.

What Whitlock also neglects to mention is the historical underfunding of public HBCUs. This dearth of state funding has directly slowed the development of academic programs. Take the Ayer’s case in Mississippi and Maryland HBCU Equality Lawsuit. (We must not forget the role that enslavement of blacks played in building the endowments of many of the elite Northeastern seaboard institutions.) In both cases the respective state lost lawsuits that pointed out how the history of “Separate but Equal” policy played out in the development of higher education.

Let us take a few moments to imagine the amplification of the impact on the numbers of black civil and thought leaders, if pubic HBCUs would have been funded on par with state PWIs. What types of academic capacity could have been grown? How many large donors could have been attracted to the an engineering, mathematics, agriculture, medicine and education programs.

Therefore, alumni and black community giving is not the sole reason that HBCUs face increased difficulties today. Yet, alumni giving has it’s place in the current issues that HBCUs face.

As for the truth portion of Whitlock’s post, giving to HBCU’s by blacks is lagging behind horribly. The black community and HBCU alumni faithfully attend HBCU sporting and social events. Unfortunately, that enthusiastic HBCU spirit does not translate to high levels of direct giving to HBCUs.

Overall, blacks give a higher percentage of their income to donations to non-profit organizations. Most of these organizations are faith based. Therefore, HBCUs and alumni have to reformulate the approach to soliciting donations. Perhaps, working with places of worship can build scholarship funding bases.

During a recent conversation with Nelson Bowman III, Executive Director of Development at Prairie View A&M University, he proposed a fundraising challenge to me and other HBCU alumni. If 2,000 alumni of any specific HBCU gave $50 per month for a full year it would raise $1.2 million for the school. Increasing the amount the donation or number of alumni would insure that the amount of money raised increases.

Other than money, alumni should also be willing to do pro bono work for HBCUs. Donating our professional skills and time can help cut cost for the schools.

As outline in Whitlock’s piece, HBCUs have produced leaders in a wide range of professions throughout the country. That is an opportunity to bring a diverse range of talent together to help HBCUs think through issues, solve problems and execute innovative solutions.

Yes, problems exist at HBCUs just like PWIs have issues. Alumni can help HBCUs implement their respective missions and raise funds. We have to translate our love for HBCUs into attainment of resources. After all, if you are like me, your professional existence would not likely have happened without walking the hallowed grounds of an HBCU.

About the Author: Caleph B. Wilson, PhD is an affiliate member of the Center for Minority Serving Institutions and biomedical sciences postdoctoral fellow at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of Alcorn State University Alumni and member of the National Science and Technology News Service. In addition to his work as a scientist, he participates in outreach programs to promote STEM, through mentoring, science education and professional development advisement. Follow him on Twitter: @HeyDrWilson

Connecting scientist mentors with students who have the desire to learn

By Caleph B. Wilson

Every scientist has three key experiences that helped them on the road to a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM: 1) being born with a desire to learn; 2) having opportunity to apply STEM principles; and 3) guidance from an effective mentor. The desire to learn started early in our lives, and those of us who were lucky began to receive guidance while we were in school. As we navigated the various stages of our careers, all three experiences built upon each other. We scientists know the value of mentoring and providing opportunities to others. However, without a road map to community engagement, finding out how to give back to the community can be difficult…

Read entire post at Planetary.org click here.

Carrying the Good Baggage with Us

By Caleph B. Wilson

Now that we have moved on from the structured world of the PhD candidate, taking the lessons learned with us is imperative for future success in the scientific enterprise within and outside of academia. Along the way, technical skills were gained, papers were published, and we somehow convinced our thesis advisors and at least two other people to write solid letters of recommendation.

For all of that have successfully obtained our PhDs, there is one thing that we can agree on, IT WAS AN EXERCISE IN SELF-‐MOTIVATION! We should begin to consistently view our postdoctoral experiences not just in terms of technical training but the development of your overall marketability…

Read entire post at BPC Newsletter click here.

How Do You Know that You Have Been Heard?

By Caleph B. Wilson

What is the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council (BPC), and what has it done for me lately? Unfortunately, too many biomedical postdocs are asking these questions. As scientists our approach does not just require posing a question. Instead, we have to ask the most appropriate question(s). So, I propose this question: How can postdocs proactively maximize their overall training experience at the University of Pennsylvania?

Okay, let’s start with the two opening questions. The BPC serves as a platform to advocate for policy issues related to the postdoctoral training. In fact, each biomedical postdoc is a member of the BPC; however, only a few us chair or serve on committees. Now, before your blood pressure rises in anticipation of a lecture, let me be clear: I am not wagging my finger at postdocs. We are very busy people who are intensely focused on our careers. Our time is very valuable. However, the collective diversity of all of our respective training experiences can serve your individual postdoctoral training experience very well, and the BPC is listening…

Read entire post at BPC Newsletter click here.

Wanted: More Under-represented Minority Professors in the Life Sciences

Article Co-Authored with Marybeth Gasman

If you ask minority high school students interested in biology what they want to do as a future career, they typically tell you that they want to be a physician or dentist. Unfortunately, what they don’t tell you is that they want to be a professor or researcher. This lack of interest is often due to a lack of exposure or negative stories about being a professor in the sciences. Becoming a professor in the life sciences often takes at least 10 years after the bachelor’s degree due to the need for post-doctoral experiences. In addition, students are often lured to practitioner-focused careers by higher starting salaries and the prestige associated with being a physician or dentist.

Read entire post at Diverse Issues in Higher Education click here.

Went to a Career Revival to See a LinkedIn Evangelist!

By Caleph B. Wilson

Recently, I attended a career/job event with an evangelist! SLOW DOWN, it is not what you think. The speaker was John Hill, LinkedIn‘s Higher Education Evangelist. Okay, the title “Higher Education Evangelist” might seem a bit much, however, there were a few things to learn.

Admittedly, the program’s title “How LinkedIn Can Advance Your Career: Special Guest John Hill, LinkedIn’s Higher Education Evangelist” sparked my interest to attend. It has been over five years since my LinkedIn account was created, and my list of connections have grown greatly in that time. So, my first thoughts were: 1.) I pretty much know all there is to know about using LinkedIn; 2.) this guy is likely to be crazy or creepy; and 3.) why not try to learn something new about getting jobs or advancing my career. (Yes, numbers 1 and 3 could be construed as contradictions.)

Needless-to-say, I do not know everything about utilizing LinkedIn, but it was good to know that my skills at the site were on track. Used correctly/effectively the professional networks at LinkedIn can be a great tool to tap into the “hidden” job market. For example, do you anyone at the company that you are applying to? If not, it is likely that you can find someone that you are connected to, i.e. college, past/current employer, organizations, with a search on LinkedIn. Can you say internal referral!

Lastly, John Hill was a great promoter of the power of LinkedIn. Great energy! He even convinced a friend of mine that is diametrically opposed to online social networking to join. The best part of the event was when he did a search of for an audience member, and it turned out to be a “drop the mic” moment! Time well spent!