Messenger - Vol. 1, No. 3, Page 6
Spring 1992
RISE program receives double honors

     The University of Delaware's RISE (Resources to Insure Successful
Engineers) program has received a $30,000 GTE grant to fund
undergraduate research for minority engineering students.
     RISE is one of only 15 recipients across the nation to receive
the GTE FOCUS grant, which will provide a research experience for 10
RISE students, primarily during the winter and spring semesters of
their sophomore year. Students with undergraduate research experience
will be prime candidates for summer jobs in the engineering industry
and will be in a better position to take part in other research
opportunities offered through the University Honors Program or one of
the research centers within the College of Engineering.
     To be eligible for the FOCUS program, RISE students must have a
minimum grade point average of 2.8 at the end of the freshman year and
must be recommended by a faculty member.
     In another honor, two RISE students, Melvin L. Perry Jr. of
Wilmington and Arthur J. Valentine Jr. of Mays Landing, N.J., were
named GEM Master's Engineering Fellows by the National Consortium for
Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science Inc. The
two Delaware students were among 222 fellows chosen in a national
competition involving more than 1,000 applicants from 123 colleges and
universities.
     The 20-year-old RISE program currently has 133 African-American
and Hispanic students enrolled in engineering. In the last five years,
some 65 RISE students have graduated and another 20 are expected to
graduate this year. In 1990, 11 of 19 RISE graduates went on to
graduate school.