Black Money is reporting that Juan Gilbert is a 2011 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The award, presented by the White House to individuals and organizations, recognizes the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering — particularly those who belong to groups that are underrepresented in these fields.
Professor Gilbert is chair of human-centered computing in the College of Computing at Clemson University. One of Gilbert's many discoveries include the African-American Multiple Learning Styles integrated learning system, with a prototype designed to teach algebra in a culturally responsive way. He was also selected this summer to lead a three-year $4.5 million contract with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to create accessible voting technology. He also developed the Prime III universal voting machine, which he gave a presentation on during the 10th annual Innovation and Equity symposium in San Francisco in 2010.
Gilbert's work is clearly making a difference in real-world scenarios. Researching, mentoring and applying the fruits of that research to create solutions that benefit the community are impressive. His work on culturally sensitive approaches to learning would definitely be of service to struggling school systems.
Read more at Black Money.
In other news: CPS Fails to Close Achievement Gaps With Reforms.