IMSA Receives $150,000 Grant to Support IMSA Great Minds Program®
For Immediate Release, June 1999
For comment, contact Brenda Buschbacher at
(630) 907-5033
AURORA-- The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® has received a $150,000 grant from The Hansen-Furnas Foundation of Batavia, Illinois, to support the Hansen-Furnas Foundation Resident Scholar Fund of the IMSA Great Minds Program®. Nobel Laureate Dr. Leon Lederman currently serves as the Inaugural Resident Scholar.
"The Great Minds Program will become a permanent foundation to IMSA’s learning and external service agenda for the next century," said Ted Parge, IMSA Vice President for Institutional Advancement. "We value and appreciate the growing partnership IMSA has had with The Hansen-Furnas Foundation over the years," Parge added. "Their latest leadership gift will help connect high school students from throughout Illinois, as well as mathematics and science teachers, to the best minds in the world through community lectures, seminars, dialogues, on-line chat groups and the IMSA Great Minds Program® website.
In the first year of the program, hundreds of students and teachers throughout Illinois were able to talk with visiting scholars such as Nobel Laureates Drs. Jack Steinberger and Dudley Herschbach, 1998 National Medal of Science winner Dr. Janet Rowley, and Dr. Wendy Freedman, Director of the Hubble Space Telescope Program.
"We are pleased to support IMSA in another great endeavor to help improve mathematics and science teaching and learning throughout Illinois and the nation," said Joanne Hansen, President of The Hansen-Furnas Foundation. "The IMSA Great Minds Program® will provide multiple environments where international ‘thought leaders’ can engage in meaningful and sustained discussions about mathematics and science with students and teachers from throughout Illinois."
Located in Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) is an internationally-recognized pioneering educational institution created by the State to develop talent and stimulate excellence in teaching and learning in mathematics, science and technology. IMSA's advanced residential college preparatory program enrolls 650 academically talented Illinois students in grades 10-12. More than 14,000 teachers and 20,000 students in Illinois and beyond have benefited from IMSA's professional development and enrichment programs. IMSA serves the people of Illinois through innovative instructional programs, public and private partnerships, policy leadership and action research.