Westmont Magazine STEM Students Benefit from New Scholarship

Southern California Edison has awarded Westmont $25,000 toward scholarships for students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Patricia Bartoli-Wible, SCE public affairs region manager, presented the check to President Gayle D. Beebe and Reed Sheard, vice president for college advancement and chief information officer, during a brief ceremony Jan. 31.

“Southern California Edison is pleased to support Westmont by funding scholarships for students studying science, technology, engineering and math,” Bartoli-Wible said.

STEM programs have been garnering attention lately at Westmont. The college installed a new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer in October at the Whittier Science Building, allowing researchers to peer into the molecular world and determine the structure of molecules. In July, Westmont received a $500,000 challenge grant to endow the chemistry department’s Summer Science Research Program. In 2011, Forbes named Westmont the second-best college for minorities to earn a degree in STEM.

Summer in San Francisco

Westmont in San Francisco (WSF) will offer a new summer program in 2013. The eight-unit, 10-week practicum course runs from June 10 through Aug. 16.

“We hope to provide opportunities for more of our students to take advantage of integrating their classroom studies with the kind of focused, experiential-based learning that WSF has been cultivating amidst our urban context for the past 40 years,” says Brad Berky, who directs WSF. “We are especially interested in targeting students who are unable to attend our semester program due to sports and/or sequential class requirements.”

Participants will live at the historic Clunie House and develop their professional and vocational skills through full-time internships.