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A family with deep connections to the University of Maryland is making a new $4.75 million gift to its Department of Mathematics to expand mathematics and statistics research and education programs and support visiting scholars, workshops and symposia, and summer programs.

Mathematics Professor Emeritus Michael Brin, his wife Eugenia and the Sergey Brin Family Foundation are establishing the Brin Mathematics Research Center, which will foster interactions between mathematicians at UMD and around the world.

The impact and generosity of the Brin family here at the University of Maryland is extraordinary, said Amitabh Varshney, dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. We are honored that the Brin familys latest gift will support pure mathematics and statistics research and its applications to nearly every sector of our economy.

The center, housed in the Computer Science Instructional Center, will organize its activities around annual themes. Each year will be dedicated to several different research areas. The center will invite visiting scholars and host scientific meetings on these themes.

The University of Maryland was a welcoming home for our family for many years. We hope that the new center will significantly advance mathematics research at Maryland, said Michael Brin, who retired from UMD in 2011 after 31 years on its faculty.

Michael and Eugenia, a retired NASA scientist, parents to Google co-founder Sergey 93 (mathematics and computer science) and Samuel 09 (computer science), have made several significant gifts over the years to support the universitys Department of Mathematics; Department of Computer Science; Russian program; and School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

This gift is truly transformational for our department, said Doron Levy, chair of the Department of Mathematics and inaugural director of the Brin Mathematics Research Center. With exciting faculty hires, an expanded postdoctoral program, new research opportunities and many educational initiatives, our department aims to be one of the top mathematics departments in the world. The Brin Mathematics Research Center is key to achieving our goals. The level of support it will provide to our research activities is unprecedented within the mathematical community. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank the Brin family for their outstanding gift.

The department currently ranks ninth in the nation among public institutions, according to U.S. News & World Report, and has over 100 tenured/tenure-track and professional-track faculty members, nearly 800 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate students, and teaches about 10,000 students a semester.

The Brin familys gift supported Fearless Ideas: The Campaign for Maryland, UMDs recently completed $1.5 billion fundraising campaign focused on elevating and expanding the universitys mission of service, enhancing academic distinction and bolstering UMDs leading-edge research enterprise.

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Maryland Today | $4.75M Gift Establishes Brin Mathematics Research - Maryland Today

AMHERST, Mass. The Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences (CICS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that it has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help expand access to high-quality data-science careers and research pathways for low-income, academically strong students. The program, Boosting Access to Data Science Scholars, which will run for six years and is led by Michelle Trim, associate director of the informatics program and senior teaching faculty at UMass Amherst, will fund 40 students for the duration of their UMass studies, significantly lowering the financial bar that blocks the path of too many.

Data science, or the analysis of huge quantities of information in order to pull out dominant trends, often goes hand-in-hand with informatics, which is the application of computer-science principles to real-world problemsthink the data visualization tools that have allowed us all to understand the risk and spread of COVID. These two studies often lead to a career as a data analyst, which is among the most rapidly growing of career pathways. The Bureau of Labor expects the number of positions to grow by 25% between 2019 and 2029, and the average salary, in Massachusetts, hovers around $70,000 per year.

There is great need for a well-trained, accomplished data-science workforce, and yet the cost of a college education too often bars many talented, low-income students. Add to that the longstanding recognition that the tech industry suffers from a diversity problem, and its clear that universities need to do more to welcome deserving students into the fold. Data science needs the deepest pool of talent it can get, says Trim, and we know there are students with enormous potential who are turning away simply because they cant afford the college price tag.

Beginning in the fall of 2022, UMass Amherst will begin offering $10,000 per year to informatics and computer science majors interested in data science. Some of these students will arrive as first-years and will plan to attend UMass for all four years of their education, but others will be transfers who have already completed two years of undergraduate work at community colleges. In all, CICS will be able to fund 40 students throughout their entire course of study at UMass Amherst.

But, says Trim, its not enough for us just to get these students in the door by helping them with costs of attendance. They need us to invest in their success throughout their time in our program, and that means providing mentoring and guidance along the way. Trim, a first-generation, entirely self-funded student herself who initially turned away from STEM because of its homogeneity, has designed with her team of teaching-focused faculty a whole host of curricular and extra-curricular support structures to help guide the students through their college experience and place them in competitive data-science jobs upon graduation. These range from personalized mentoring, to attendance at industry conferences, tech-industry career fairs, and data-science-specific boot camps designed to quickly bring students up to speed.

I have a deep desire to help underrepresented, first-generation, and economically disadvantaged students succeed in STEM careers, says Trim. Our motto here at CICS is computing for the common good, and the Boosting Access to Data Science program will both address social inequities and fill the need for well-trained informatics and computing professionals all at the same time.

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UMass Amherst to Offer Scholarships to 40 Students, Boosting Diversity in Data Science - UMass News and Media Relations

The MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) recently welcomed a $7 million gift from the Shiv Nadar Foundation.

Both Shiv Nadar and Roshni Nadar Malhotra share our commitment to excellence in education and in entrepreneurship, and the gifts we are celebrating today are extraordinary examples of that commitment, said MIT President L. Rafael Reif in a celebratory Zoom gathering on Nov. 3, which was attended by Nadar, Malhotra, and top MIT leadership to celebrate the Shiv Nadar Foundations gift to MIT.

The gift will support two causes close to the donors hearts: the education of women, and quality research opportunities for undergraduates. Of the gift, $4 million will establish the Vamasundari Devi Fellowship Fund, which honors Nadars late mother (Malhotras grandmother) by providing fellowship support to MIT graduate students, with a preference for the support of women. The remaining $3 million will support SuperUROP students engaged in hands-on research, through the Shiv Nadar Undergraduate Research Fund.

The Vamasundari Devi Fellowship Fund begins a wonderful legacy that will provide invaluable support for talented women scientists and engineers, said Reif, and the Shiv Nadar Undergraduate Research Fund will allow us to strengthen one of the most essential features of an MIT education: opportunities for students to partner with faculty on important research projects.

This gift is so meaningful to the entire department of EECS, added department head Asu Ozdaglar, the MathWorks Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. It aligns with, and affirms, our highest departmental priority: supporting our students. I wholeheartedly believe that the impact will be felt for generations to come, from Cambridge to Chennai.

Anantha Chandrakasan, who serves as dean of the School of Engineering and is also the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, agreed. Addressing both Nadar and Malhotra, he said, Speaking on behalf of the MIT School of Engineering, it is our privilege to recognize your tremendous commitment as a powerful tool for social and individual change.

Nadar, founder of the HCL Group, has given close to $1 billion in total to philanthropic causes through the Shiv Nadar Foundation, with a focus on transformative education to drive social change. In addition to this latest gift to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Nadar has supported efforts to establish early intervention and enrichment programs (such as SHIKSHA Initiative, a tech-based literacy outreach); K-12 schools (the three-location Shiv Nadar School); STEM-focused colleges (SSN Institutions, the Chennai-based institution for higher education Nadar founded and named in honor of his father, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar); philanthropic multidisciplinary research institutions (Shiv Nadar University Delhi-NCR and Shiv Nadar University Chennai); and arts organizations (Kiran Nadar Museum of Art). Nadar has also served on the boards of multiple business and technical schools, and advocated for relationship-building between higher education organizations in India and their foreign counterparts.

For her part, Malhotra has become a leading figure in the world of tech and in philanthropy. She succeeded her father at the helm of HCL Technologies Limited in 2020, becoming the first female chair of a listed Indian information technology company. A passionate environmentalist, Malhotra is also the founder of The Habitats Trust, a coalition supporting work to sustain lesser-known endangered species and habitats, and is a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation. Additionally, she is the chairperson of VidyaGyan Leadership Academy, a pair of free schools in rural Uttar Pradesh focused on identifying and nurturing gifted students from rural India into leaders of tomorrow.

Both Nadar and Malhotra point to the influence of Shivs mother, Vamasundari Devi, in their development as philanthropists. She was a great person, extremely focused, progressive, and immensely inspiring, said Nadar. Her efforts led me to what I am today, and led Roshni to what she is today.

Nadar also described how Devis influence was pivotal in his development as a philanthropist, pointing out that after his initial successes with HCL allowed him to consider which causes he might support, it was Devi who reminded Nadar that hed been supported by a merit scholarship during his own education, and suggested that he pay the gift forward.

When, many years later, Nadar met President Reif, the philanthropist and the Insitute leader discovered they shared a common vision for expansive, inclusive education. It was clear we saw eye-to-eye on many issues of vital importance to MIT, recalled Reif at last month's event. One of those issues, he noted, was the persistent gender gap in STEM, specifically in computer science and electrical engineering, where women earn only about three out of every 10 advanced degrees. The Nadar gift dovetails perfectly with the MIT Department of EECSs commitment to improving gender representation within the field, a commitment recently commemorated by the launch of Thriving Stars, a comprehensive program designed to foster the success of women in EECS, from application through graduation and beyond via increased fellowship support, information and coaching sessions, and a wide variety of internship and career networking opportunities.

The celebration included thought-provoking research presentations from several current MIT students working on topics as varied as image noise reduction, better videoconferencing, and advance warning of mental health declines. We [at Shiv Nadar University] also started undergraduate research, which is quite unique for a university in India, Malhotra explained. By supporting the program which is already in existence at MIT, for us as a foundation and as a young university its a great opportunity for knowledge sharing and exchange.

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$7 million gift from the Shiv Nadar Foundation bolsters undergraduate research and women in EECS - MIT News

Our 2021-22 Innovation Issue salutes educators who dare to imagine a world where life is better for their students:

My students know I mean business, but they also know I care for them and want them to be their best selves at all times.

Chantel Parnells students are only in middle school. But they are on a pathway to well-paying careers and diversifying the tech industry, thanks to her.

Parnell, a teacher at Bret Harte Middle School in Oakland, was named Teacher of the Year by her district last May for developing computer science and animation courses at her school and creating the districts only all-girls computer science class.

My girls love being in a girls class just for them, says the Oakland Education Association member. We have newcomer girls, too. They are getting stronger with their English skills, and we are all learning a whole new computer language together.

Parnell sees herself as helping to create a pipeline of women in computer science that will help diversify the tech industry in the Bay Area and beyond. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer science research jobs will grow 19 percent by 2026. Yet womenonly earn 18 percentof computer science bachelors degrees in the U.S. The percentage of women working in computer science-related professions dropped from 35 to 26 percent between 1990 and 2013.

Parnell, who teaches primarily Black and Latino students, hopes to see the tech industry become more racially diverse, too, reflecting Californias demographics. The challenge is real: According to a 2020 Los Angeles Times story, The industry has failed to move the needle on workplace diversity, and as a result, an entire sector of the economy is functionally barely open to Black and Latino people.

Parnell, top right, and her students with British soccer star David Beckham.

Parnell grew up in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles and went to school in LA Unified. She always wanted to be a teacher.

Growing up, I would gather all the kids on my block to come onto my lawn, where I had a chalkboard, and have them do math.

With support from the Fulfillment Fund (an LA nonprofit that helps make college a reality for students growing up in underresourced communities), she attended Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania. After graduation she joined Teach for America. She was placed at Bret Harte; after five years as a math teacher, she was ready for a change.

I had an opportunity to pilot an all-girls introduction to computer science class. I went to an all-womens college and knew the advantages of being surrounded by other girls which is being more willing to take risks, speak up, and share ideas. I wanted to duplicate that experience with students on my campus.

She sought support and expertise from Code.org, a nonprofit that expands access to computer science, including animation, while increasing participation by young women and students from other underrepresented groups.

It was a very exciting time for me to be surrounded by young ladies and all of us learning together. I was up-front with my students. I said, Im terrified too, I dont know how it will turn out, but lets see where it takes us.

It has taken her to new opportunities, where she now teaches computer science and animation, including one all-girls computer science class.

Parnell describes her teaching style as warm but demanding. My students know I mean business, but they also know I care for them and want them to be their best selves at all times.

I wanted to take computer science because coding is super fun, says Vernia Morgan, eighth grader and student body president, who is enrolled in the all-girls class. Being in this class opened my mind to a career path in computer science.

I really like the way Ms. Parnell teaches, because it makes me feel like I have something to look forward to, says seventh grader Charlie Sellman.

Parnell lets her students shine. Pre-pandemic, they presented at the inaugural Future Trailblazer Challenge hosted by Salesforce, competing with students from other schools in a style similar to the TV show Shark Tank. Her students used coding and a 3D printer to build a solution to a problem school shootings and created a drop-down mechanism on classroom doors to keep intruders out. Her students have also met with UNICEF ambassador and soccer star David Beckham to discuss concerns about the state of the world.

For me, the fun comes when I allow students to create what they want to create and see them apply all the skills they have learned, Parnell says. I love seeing them do what they are interested in and sharing that with their classmates.

Parnell also trains teachers in computer science alongside computer science specialists. During the pandemic she created videos for her students, and she continues the practice this year.

She cried happy tears when she was named Teacher of the Year.

It was so nice to be recognized. Its not about what we do in the classroom; its also about preparing our students to be successful in the outside world. Im so glad I wasnt afraid to take a risk. We are all teachers and learners. We are all in this together.

See the article here:

Chantel Parnell: Working to Diversify Tech - California Teachers Association