Money for education

Citing the “call to action” in the 2005 National Academies Gathering Storm report to improve US math and science education (see Physics Today, December 2005, page 25 ), the ExxonMobil Foundation has committed $125 million to expand two existing K–12 education programs. The pledge will establish the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), whose aim is to broaden the national Advanced Placement program and the UTeach program at the University of Texas at Austin.

The AP program includes training for teachers, “identification and cultivation of lead teachers,” and financial incentives, according to an ExxonMobil statement. The UTeach program encourages math and science majors to become teachers by offering integrated degree plans and financial assistance to promising undergraduates in those fields. The NMSI will award grants in up to 10 states for AP training and incentive programs and up to 10 grants to colleges and universities that want to replicate the UTeach program.

The 14-member board of directors for the NMSI includes Norman Augustine, the retired chairman of Lockheed Martin Corp who chaired the Gathering Storm report; Bruce Alberts, former president of the National Academy of Sciences; Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and Charles Vest, former president of MIT.