A dozen students from the Cullen College of Engineering's chapter of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) were celebrated for graduating in the 2019-20 academic year, along with others across the country, during a national Zoom ceremony on June 11.
The ceremony was hosted by NACME Board Chairman Frederiek Toney, Vice President, Global Ford Customer Service Division . The keynote address, “Change: How to Cope, Adapt and Remain Resilient” was delivered by Brian Tippens, a vice president and deputy general counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Dr. Jerrod A. Henderson, an Instructional Associate Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Cullen College of Engineering, noted that the organization had to adapt in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, like many others.
“This recognition was a great way to celebrate NACME Scholars from across the country, who are going out and diversifying the engineering workforce,” he said.
The 12 students graduating in the 2019-20 academic year are:
- Samuel Akinwande
- Marc Alozie
- Miguel Arias
- Daniel Bosquez
- Carolina Delgado
- Joseph Emesih
- Michael Jackson
- Danielle London
- Javier Montejano
- Brandon Santos
- Gideon Tegene
- Carlos Zaleta
Henderson said this year's class of 12 NACME Scholars was representative of the high-quality students the college was graduating now.
“NACME Scholars are among our best, brightest, top-tier academic performers, as well as leaders at the University of Houston,” he said. “NACME has been an important resource that helps connect our scholars to a small, cohort style community of other high achieving students. In this NACME community of scholars, students challenge each other to grow, and as we like to say in PROMES, 'achieve, connect and trailblaze.' NACME funding also allows these high performing students to concentrate on their studies rather than have to work jobs to pay for their education.”
According to the organization, NACME’s scholarship program for under-represented minorities serves as a catalyst to increase the proportion of Black/African American, Native/American Indian, and Latinx/Hispanic American young women and men in STEM careers. The organization inspires and encourages excellence in engineering education and career development, toward achieving a diverse and dynamic American workforce. From 1974 through 2014, NACME provided scholarship support to more than 23,000 minority engineering students across the nation.