UA sponsors and Bridge to Doctorate participants are, seated (L to R): Dr. Viola L. Acoff, Dr. Judy Bonner, Dr. Carolyn Braswell, and Dr. Louis Dale. Standing (L to R): Nicole Gray, DeAna McAdory, Melody Kelley, Ekaette Mbong, Contessa Majors, Alanzo Granville, Rachel Roberts, Edward Dillon, Brandon Morgan, Marleshia Hall, Haylee Hinz, and Kathryn Picard. Download a high-resolution version

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Twelve college graduates have begun their graduate study in science, engineering and mathematics at The University of Alabama as part of a new National Science Foundation-sponsored “Bridge to the Doctorate” Program at UA.

The approximately $1 million grant from the NSF provides funding for the students to pursue graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics disciplines. It is a supplement of the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, a consortium established by The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama’s seven historically black colleges and universities, and one historically black college from Mississippi, and that now includes Alabama’s 13 major colleges and universities.

“The Bridge to the Doctorate Program has allowed us to attract and recruit graduate students to UA that we probably would not have been able to do so otherwise. This program also allows us to enhance our very successful record of educating graduate students from groups that are underrepresented in science, engineering and mathematics,” said Dr. Viola Acoff, professor of metallurgical engineering and co-author of the grant proposal.

The program also provides student participants with academic and professional mentoring and immersion in the professional life of their discipline through a mentoring program, seminars and workshops, and additional research and networking opportunities.

Ten Bridge to the Doctorate students are studying in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Studying in the department of chemistry are DeAna McAdory of Montgomery; Melody Kelley of Detroit, Mich; and Nicole Gray of Moss Point, Miss.

Studying in the department of mathematics are Alanzo Granville of Sheffield; and Brandon Morgan of Oxford, Miss.

Studying in the department of biological sciences are Ekaette Mbong of Norman, Okla.; Marleshia Hall of Eutaw; Kathryn Picard of Mandeville, La.; Haylee Hinz of Opelika; and Contessa Majors of Lawton, Okla.

Two participants are studying in UA’s College of Engineering. They are Rachel Roberts of Opelika, studying in metallurgical and materials engineering, and Edward Dillon of Bogue Chitto, Miss., studying in computer science.

Students continuing on to a doctoral program in the sciences will be supported with research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and other graduate research fellowships.

The Alabama Alliance for Minority Participation program began in 1991 with eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities and The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Conceived and initiated by 10 black faculty members at these institutions with doctorate degrees in mathematics and science, the Alliance had a single goal of significantly increasing the number of minorities receiving bachelor degrees in science, engineering, and mathematics in Alabama and parts of Mississippi.

Today, the Alliance is known as the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, and its membership includes the 13 major colleges and universities in Alabama.

Acoff and Dr. Louis Dale, vice president for equity and diversity at UAB and the architect of Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, wrote the proposal to the NSF to bring the two-year Bridge to the Doctorate Program to UA’s campus. Another alliance institution will have the opportunity to compete with the other alliances in the U.S. and its territories for the Bridge to the Doctorate Program next year.

The College of Arts and Sciences is Alabama’s largest liberal arts college and the University’s largest division with 360 faculty and 7,600 students.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of a planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state’s economy, is in keeping with UA’s vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state’s flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.