Technology company Intel is donating $5 million to Georgia Tech as part of an initiative to increase the number of underrepresented engineers and computer scientists.
The Intel Diversity Scholars Program will recruit and retain minority students to science, technology, engineering and math majors, and prepare them for graduate school. About 1,000 students are expected to benefit from the five-year gift through mentoring, scholarships and professional development workshops.
The grant will also help expand some of Georgia Tech’s ongoing initiatives, including a summer engineering institute for rising junior and senior high school students and a summer undergraduate research program for qualified minority students.
The funding is part of Intel’s $300 million Diversity in Technology Initiative to achieve full representation of underrepresented minorities and women in the technology workforce by the year 2020.
The Intel, Georgia Tech partnership was announced this week in conjunction with the inaugural White House Demo Day, in which entrepreneurs were invited to demonstrate their innovations in Washington, D.C.
Georgia Tech graduates nearly 10 percent of all African-American Ph.D. engineers in the country, according to university officials, and is a leading producer of women and minority STEM graduates.
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