About the McNair Scholars Program
The McNair Scholars Program at Brandeis University was established in 1995 and continued through 2003. It was a collaborative project involving five member institutions: Brandeis University, Bridgewater and Framingham State Colleges, and North Shore and Roxbury Community Colleges.
McNair Scholars were chosen on a competitive basis from talented sophomores and juniors who are enrolled in the five-member McNair Collaborative. They had a cumulative and major grade point average of 3.00 or better, strong faculty recommendations, and a sincere interest in attending graduate school at the doctoral level. The program's focus was multidisciplinary. Qualified, eligible students could be majors in any liberal arts discipline.
McNair Scholars participated in the program for up to two years. During the participant's tenure in the program, students engaged in research and scholarly activities. The program was designed to provide experiences at the undergraduate level that will enhance success in graduate school.
History
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program encourages first generation* college students from low-income backgrounds and students from groups underrepresented in graduate education to pursue doctoral studies and to consider careers in academia. The program is designed to provide experiences at the undergraduate level that will encourage success in graduate school. In 1987, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to name the new Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program in honor of Dr. Ronald E. McNair. The McNair program Student Support Services is a federally funded TRIO program of the U.S. Department of Education, and eligibility for services is determined by federal guidelines.
* A first generation college student is a person whose parents or legal guardians with whom they lived until their 18th birthday did not complete a baccalaureate degree.
Who Was Ronald E. McNair?
Dr. Ronald E. McNair, who died aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, was born on October 12, 1950; in South Carolina. He completed his bachelor's degree in physics at North Carolina A & T University, graduating magna cum laude in 1971. He received his doctorate in physics from the Massachusettes Institue of Technology. In 1978, he was selected for the NASA astronaut corps. Dr. McNair was the second African American astronaut sent into space. He was also an athlete and a patron of the arts. Dr. McNair was a champion of graduate education for minorities and economically disadvantaged; in this manner, Dr. McNair offered encouragement and hope to students considering higher education.