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January 9, 2003

Engineering gets diversity funds

A $50,000 gift to Pitt’s School of Engineering will underwrite scholarships and create a fund to develop diversity programs within the school.

Robert Agbede, president and CEO of Advanced Technology Systems Inc., made the donation. Agbede earned a B.S. and M.S. in mining engineering from Pitt in 1979 and 1981, respectively.

The gift will be split between scholarships for African American undergraduate engineering students and a fund for initiatives in the School of Engineering for recruiting and retaining minority students and faculty.

A member of the school’s Board of Visitors, Agbede also chairs and is a founding member of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania. He also serves on the boards of the Urban League of Pittsburgh Inc. and the Pittsburgh Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Pitt’s School of Engineering has been recognized for its commitment to minority education. A study by the Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies Inc. (AAES) found that, in the year 2001, Pitt’s engineering program ranked first in Pennsylvania in the number of African American graduates, in bachelor of science degrees awarded and in doctorates awarded.

The study also found that nationally, Pitt ranked third — among more than 600 institutions the AAES surveyed in the United States — in the number of doctorates awarded to African Americans. Pitt also tied for 22nd in both the number of bachelor of science degrees and overall number of degrees awarded to African Americans.

Filed under: Feature,Volume 35 Issue 9

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