Jonathan Barnes, assistant professor, and Richard Loomis, professor and director of graduate studies, both in the Department of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, recently won a four-year $90,000 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for the recruitment and retention of underrepresented graduate students in chemistry's doctoral program.
Each year for four years, the Packard award will support three incoming graduate students, with one additional student funded by commitments from Feng Sheng Hu, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, Laurie Maffly-Kipp, interim vice provost of graduate education, and the Department of Chemistry.
Based on 23 years of tracking attrition, productivity and job placement, Barnes and Loomis identified prior research experience at an R1 institution as the top predictor for success in the chemistry doctoral program at WashU.
