The fact that thousands of capable minority students miss out on careers in engineering is a "massive brain drain," says John Brooks Slaughter, president and CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. The consequences, and strategies for improvement, are the topics for discussion during Slaughter's visit to Cornell, Thursday, Oct. 4.
Slaughter will deliver a public lecture titled "Engineering Excellence and Equity" at 4 p.m. on Oct. 4 in Room 255 of Olin Hall. The talk is free and open to the public. A student-sponsored reception will follow the lecture in McManus Lounge, Hollister Hall. Slaughter will also meet with university and college leaders to discuss issues of diversity and equity in academia during his visit.
"... It is no joke when I say that I was the first black engineer I ever met," Slaughter has said in speaking of his graduation with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1956. "Then," he said, "the term 'black engineer' was nearly an oxymoron."
Although the statistics for minorities in engineering have improved since the 1950s, the rate of improvement remains discouraging, Slaughter says. "More than a half-million minority students graduate from high school each year, but only 32,000 of them have the necessary math and science to even be considered for entry into engineering. About 21,000 are fully qualified to go to an engineering school and 14,000 of them actually enroll," he has reported.
Slaughter's visit to Cornell is part of the Culture and Diversity Lecture Series sponsored by the College of Engineering's Minority Programs and Women's Programs in Engineering. For more information, contact Char Jeffris at 255-0735.
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