The University of St. Thomas McNair Scholars Program will present its Fifth Annual Summer Research Symposium Thursday, Aug. 9.
Thirteen scholars will present their research from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 378, Anderson Student Center. The St. Thomas community is invited to attend and celebrate another year of scholarship and success of the McNair Scholars Program.
According to program’s website, “The Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Scholars Program) is designed to encourage low-income and first-generation college students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education to pursue doctoral study.”
Dr. Ronald E. McNair was an African-American engineer, scientist and astronaut. He earned a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. McNair was nationally recognized for his work in the field of laser physics and received numerous honorary degrees.
His life ended tragically on Jan. 28, 1986, when the Challenger space shuttle exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, taking the lives of McNair and six other astronauts