Murdock Grant Will Support New Professor in Chemistry
$30K grant from Murdock Trust will augment ºìÌÒÊÓƵ's start-up package for new faculty member.
The has made a grant of $30,000 to ºìÌÒÊÓƵ to augment support for a new position in the chemistry department.
“We have worked with ºìÌÒÊÓƵ for decades and we are very pleased and impressed with the quality and caliber of work undertaken by their science faculty," said Dr. Moses Lee, senior director for scientific research and enrichment programs at the Murdock Trust. “This grant will help ºìÌÒÊÓƵ in recruiting its highest ranked, teacher-scholar candidate, thereby strengthening their science education curriculum and giving students the opportunity to learn from the best faculty possible. We are honored to support student learning at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ and other universities throughout the Northwest.”
“We deeply appreciate the mission-critical funding the Murdock Trust gives in support of science education and research that benefits our students and the community,” said acting ºìÌÒÊÓƵ President Hugh Porter.
Since 2011, the Murdock Trust has awarded 17 grants to ºìÌÒÊÓƵ, totaling more than $1.1 million. This new grant will help ºìÌÒÊÓƵ provide chemistry majors with a strong foundation in physical and analytical chemistry and will enable ºìÌÒÊÓƵ to hire a top-notch faculty member with an expertise in measurement science.
The new grant is part of Murdock’s Research Start-up Grants for New Science Faculty program, launched in 2005. This program provides grant support to augment start-up research packages offered to new tenure-track faculty in the natural sciences at private institutions.
"Our benefactor, Jack Murdock, believed strongly in the value and power of scientific research, exploration and inspiration," said Steve Moore, executive director at Murdock Charitable Trust. "We are grateful to be able to partner with institutions that are investing tirelessly in the work of growing our scientific knowledge and inspiring the next generation of scientific researchers and educators."
It is anticipated that, with these grants, these institutions will become more competitive for the best young faculty nationwide; that new hires will have a better environment in which to initiate their research and a greater likelihood of success; and that the institutions will be encouraged to give faculty/student research even more serious attention than they have in the past.
Reviews of this program in 2010 and 2014 show remarkable success. External consultants are used to help with the hiring process, and reports show that they have done well and are often awarded tenure. Several have also secured major federal research grants. To date, the Trust has awarded 99 grants under this program, for a total of nearly $3 million.