Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

MIT Press has established the Fund for Diverse Voices. Established by an anonymous donor, MIT Press aims to facilitate the publication of works by women and underrepresented groups in STEM fields. The MIT Press will use the money to offer competitive advances to talented authors, cover the cost of high-quality production features (e.g. color images, or commissioned art) that may not be financially feasible otherwise.

St. Catherine University, an educational institution for women in St. Paul, Minnesota, has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging to implement the Katies for Aging Research and Equity (KARE) program. KARE is an innovative and integrated research program that aims to prepare the next generation of underrepresented minority women to be leaders in aging research by combining student support, education, and mentored research opportunities for students working with scientists and clinicians at the university, as well as at the Mayo Clinic and the HealthPartners Neuroscience Center.

Rutgers University has received a $1.3 million gift from sex education and women’s rights advocate Susan N. Wilson to empower college-age women, equip young people with knowledge, and challenge ignorance about sex. The funds will support Answer, formerly the Rutgers-based New Jersey Network for Family Life Education, which trains teachers and provides school districts with reliable information about sexual health. The money will also endow NEW Leadership New Jersey, a program at the Center for American Women and Politics that prepares college women for careers in public leadership.

Spelman College, a historically Black college for women in Atlanta, Georgia, will receive more than $205,000 as part of a new scholarship initiative with Booking.com, one of the world’s largest digital travel e-commerce companies. The scholarship program aims to provide women students with the funding needed to advance their STEM education.