Award-winning mathematics Professor Richard Tapia will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder March 5 on the challenges of recruiting and retaining Hispanics and African Americans in science, engineering and mathematics at American universities.
A leading national figure for diversity efforts in math and computing, Tapia will speak at 5 p.m. at the ATLAS building, room 100. The talk by Tapia, who is the first Hispanic named to the nation聮s highest scientific governing body, the National Science Board, is titled 聯What Universities Still do not Understand About Race in America.聰 The talk is free and open to the public.
Tapia, also the first Hispanic elected to the National Academy of Engineering, will talk about the shortcomings of diversity initiatives created to address the significant under-representation of Hispanics and blacks in higher education. He contends that university administrators continue to 聯re-invent the wheel聰 in drafting policy rather than drawing on experiences and knowledge about what helps minorities succeed in higher education.
In addition, most university leaders still do not have a good understanding of the 聯meaning of race聰 for Hispanic and black Americans attempting to succeed at American universities, said Tapia, the Maxfield and Oshman Professor in Engineering in Rice University聮s department of computational and applied mathematics.
聯If we do not address this situation realistically, it will be a loss not only for the individuals who will not achieve their full professional potential, but for the U.S. as a whole,聰 according to Tapia. 聯American universities, which often find themselves in the role of thought leaders and advocates of reform, must now face the daunting prospect of institutional change -- their own --if they want to remain relevant in the 21st century.聰
The presentation is being hosted by CU-Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano, Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Equity Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, and the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society Institute, or ATLAS, directed by Bobby Schnabel.
For directions to the ATLAS building, located on 18th street north of the Euclid Autopark, go to the Web site at: .