STEM gets a boost with $25 million gift

BY CHRISTINA HOLDER

Duke University has received a $25 million gift from philanthropists Bruce and Martha Karsh to spur learning and innovation in STEM-related fields via a new undergraduate scholars program.

The Karsh STEM Scholars Program will match undergraduate students who have declared majors in disciplines in the natural sciences, engineering, and STEM-related fields with faculty in the Pratt School of Engineering and Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

Together, the student-faculty pairs will embark on research journeys designed to support novel thinking, learning and mentoring for the next generation.

“We know these incredible Duke students will use what they learn to soar into the workplace, into their communities, and into the world–all for the greater good of society. I can’t wait to see what they do.” — Martha Karsh

An additional element of the Karsh STEM Scholars program is economics as a discipline, which Bruce Karsh, an alumnus from the class of 1977, studied as an undergraduate at Duke.

“Bruce and Martha Karsh have been tremendous supporters of Duke students for many years,” said President Vincent E. Price. “I am very grateful for their partnership in this exciting new program that will provide expanded opportunities for undergraduates to have transformative experiences working with faculty research mentors to address complex questions and challenges facing society.”

The Karshes are among the university’s top supporters of financial aid. In 2011, when Bruce served as a co-chair for the university’s comprehensive fundraising campaign Duke Forward, the couple donated $50 million to the university for permanent endowments to support need-based financial aid for undergraduate students, scholarships for graduates of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) schools, scholarships for international students, and to provide matching funds to other donors of scholarship funds. In 2016 toward the conclusion of Duke Forward, Bruce and Martha added $7.5 million to a joint “Access & Opportunity” scholarship challenge fund along with several other donors.

Fully $15 million of the new $25 million gift will support financial aid for the cohort of undergraduates who have declared STEM or economics majors and who have demonstrated financial need. The remaining $10 million will support a faculty director for the Karsh STEM Scholars Program, who will oversee a cohort of faculty mentors who will also receive funding for their mentoring of the undergraduate scholars, create innovation funding for the director to evaluate the impact of the program and seek to scale it, and provide enrichment funding for the students for travel to conferences to present their research projects.

“This is an incredible opportunity for Duke to take the next step in supporting future leaders in science and technology,” said Provost Alec D. Gallimore. “A key marker of undergraduate success is the ability to participate in robust, faculty mentored research, which can forever shape a student’s path beyond Duke. The Karsh STEM Scholars program will enable Duke students to do just that in a unique and transformative way.”

Gary Bennett, dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, and Jerome Lynch, dean of the Pratt School of Engineering, said that not only will the new scholars program provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for undergraduate students, it also will help faculty members hone their mentoring and teaching skills.

“At the heart of what’s special about Duke is our faculty’s commitment to teaching and mentoring and their belief in bringing students into their research and scholarship, so that these brilliant students may grow as scientists and scholars and contribute to the creation of knowledge,” Bennett said. “That’s Duke at its best, and this new gift will go a long way toward fostering such meaningful connections.”

The program will empower a rich range of research experiences that will crisscross across Trinity and Pratt, Lynch said.

“We are overjoyed by the Karsh family’s investment in Duke students,” Lynch said. “The Karsh STEM Scholars Program is a game changer for our purpose-driven students in STEM-related disciplines. By combining financial aid with a rich range of research experiences with our faculty, STEM scholars will be ready to tackle the toughest global challenges after they graduate.”

The aim of the program is for the faculty director to work closely with Duke’s Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid and its Undergraduate Research Support Office to identify students who will be invited into the scholars program and to support them in their journeys.

“This is a dream come true for Martha and me,” Bruce Karsh said. “We are confident this program will create greater access and opportunity for all merit-worthy students to gain the full benefit of a STEM education at Duke.”