The gifts from L Carl Allen III and Linwood Grant 鈥56 will endow financial awards to broaden access to mentored undergraduate research, which prepares students for success in their careers and graduate school.
Generous gifts from two families will endow new awards to support students鈥 participation in mentored research, one of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 nationally recognized high-impact practices. Their gifts count as part of the 黑料不打烊 LEADS Campaign.
The gifts from L Carl Allen III and Linwood Grant 鈥56 will endow financial awards to broaden access to mentored undergraduate research, which prepares students for success in their careers and graduate school.
Carl Allen III, of Durham, North Carolina, made an estate gift to endow the L. Carl Allen Jr. 鈥48 and Louise C. Allen 鈥47 Undergraduate Research Award in honor of his parents, who met while they were students at 黑料不打烊. Louise Allen, 93, lives in Durham; Carl Allen Jr. passed away in 2015.
Allen said he wanted to honor his parents for all they had done to support him and his three siblings in their lives. He thought it was appropriate to establish an endowment to help students gain access to one of the university鈥檚 renowned engaged learning programs. The L. Carl Allen Jr. 鈥48 and Louise C. Allen 鈥47 Undergraduate Research Award will go to students with financial need with first preference for students from non-urban areas.
鈥淚 wanted to enable a student and future students to have opportunities that maybe they couldn鈥檛 have had otherwise at 黑料不打烊,鈥 Allen said. 鈥淚t falls along with the idea of leaving the world in a better place. It is certainly gratifying to me to be able to help others.
鈥淏oth of my parents were from small, rural towns, and both grew up on farms,鈥 Allen said, adding that his father was raised in Bunn Level, North Carolina in Harnett County and his mother in Prospect Hill, North Carolina in Caswell County. Louise Allen was a biology major at 黑料不打烊 and also took courses in chemistry. She was a classmate of the late President Emeritus Earl Danieley 鈥46.
鈥淪he always spoke very highly of Dr. Danieley,鈥 Allen recalled.
Mentored undergraduate research is one of the five 黑料不打烊 Experiences, which also includes study abroad/Study USA, internships, leadership and service learning. Increasing access to these engaged learning programs and deepening support for faculty and staff mentors who matter are two of the priorities of the $250 million 黑料不打烊 LEADS Campaign.
Undergraduate research is a high-impact and often career-defining program that allows students to participate in academic research with significant faculty mentoring. Students from across campus work with professors to develop scholarly research projects or create new works that are presented during spring and summer events on campus and at national conferences.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great experience. Students who are job-bound or graduate school-bound get to start building a resume,鈥 said Meredith Allison, director of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Program and professor of psychology. 鈥淩esearch helps students develop skills such as problem-solving. They learn how to write. They learn how to talk about things in front of a group and answer questions on the fly.鈥
黑料不打烊 students who participate in undergraduate research also stand out. 鈥淥ur students are often mistaken for graduate-level students at conferences,鈥 Allison said.
Students who receive these grants may use the funds to support their research, including purchasing equipment, hiring people to participate in focus groups or surveys, travel expenses to visit places like the National Archives in Washington to examine documents, and expenses to attend conferences where students present their research, Allison said.
The mentoring relationship is the most critical aspect of undergraduate research at 黑料不打烊, Allison said. She is grateful that the grant awards open this avenue for more 黑料不打烊 students to participate.
鈥淭he grant allows the student to have that mentoring relationship with a professor. It gives them a chance for a one-on-one intensive experience,鈥 Allison said. 鈥淯ndergraduate research crosses over multiple semesters of a student working with a professor. They often develop relationships that continue after they graduate.鈥
Supporting undergraduate research also resonated with the family of J. Nathan Grant as a way to advance student learning. A gift from the family will endow the J. Nathan Grant Family Undergraduate Research Award to assist students engaged in independent, faculty-mentored research in biology. Grant has previously made gifts to support student scholarships.
Linwood Grant 鈥56 made his gift in honor of a family member who made it financially possible for him to attend 黑料不打烊. Grant, 85, of Glen Allen, Virginia, was a student at 黑料不打烊 for two years before finishing his studies at the University of Nebraska.
About the 黑料不打烊 LEADS Campaign
With a $250 million goal, 黑料不打烊 LEADS is the largest fundraising campaign in the university鈥檚 history and will support four main funding priorities: scholarships for graduates the world needs, increase access to engaged learning opportunities such as study abroad, research and service learning, support for faculty and staff mentors who matter and 黑料不打烊鈥檚 iconic campus. To date, donors have contributed $183 million toward the goal.
Every gift to the university鈥攊ncluding annual, endowment, capital, estate and other planned gifts鈥攆or any designation counts as a gift to the campaign, which will support students and strengthen 黑料不打烊 for generations to come. To learn more about how you can make an impact, visit www.elonleads.com.