FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

April 22, 2008

GRINNELL COLLEGE AWARDED $1.2 MILLION FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION

GRINNELL, IA--Grinnell College has received a $1.2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), announced today by HHMI, the nation’s largest private supporter of science education. Grinnell was one of 48 national undergraduate institutions to receive a grant from a field of more than 220 invited to submit proposals in 2007.

The four-year HHMI grant to Grinnell will support development of team-taught, interdisciplinary science courses; assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of science teaching; student-faculty research; and instrumentation to support the new courses and undergraduate research.

"Grinnell faculty have long been committed to modeling for students the powerful experience that comes with doing science," said Mark Levandoski, associate professor of chemistry and program director for the HHMI grant. "In the new team-taught courses, we expect to develop collaborative teaching experiences so Grinnell students will observe faculty from different disciplines doing science together."

"Another goal of the grant is to expand science beyond the science division, complementing our current interdisciplinary efforts through the campus’ Expanding Knowledge Initiative. We are grateful to HHMI for affording us this opportunity to creatively strengthen science education at Grinnell."

Approximately one-third of Grinnell students graduate with a major in science, and many continue into some of the top graduate programs in the country; in fact, Grinnell ranks high nationally in the matriculation of graduates who later complete Ph.D.s in chemistry (6th nationally); biological sciences (9th); psychology (9th); and physics (20th).

The 2008 HHMI grant is the third Grinnell has received since 2000. HHMI, a non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., has invested more than $1.2 billion in grants to reinvigorate science education at liberal arts colleges and research universities and to engage the nation’s leading scientists in teaching. HHMI President Tom Cech is a 1970 Grinnell graduate and Nobel Prize winner.

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

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