Nov 28, 2018

BG Student Wins Sloan Foundation Scholarship

Jordan Hughey has added the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Minority Ph.D. award to an impressive list of accolades.

Jordan Hughey has been awarded a scholarship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Minority Ph.D. (MPHD) program.
Jordan Hughey has been awarded a scholarship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Minority Ph.D. (MPHD) program.

HERSHEY, PA  —  Jordan Hughey, a PhD student in the Bioinformatics and Genomics graduate program and hosted by the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Penn State College of Medicine, has been awarded a scholarship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Minority Ph.D. (MPHD) program. 

The MPHD program, established in 1995, recognizes underrepresented doctoral students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The scholarship supports efforts to diversify the STEM workforce and prepares doctoral students for careers in academia.

“I am honored to receive this prestigious award that promotes diversity and creating inclusive cultures in STEM," said Hughey. "Like the Sloan foundation, I believe that diverse minds maximize innovation in STEM.”

To support its efforts to diversify STEM, the Foundation created University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEMs). Penn State is among nine UCEMs across the country. In addition to scholarships, the UCEMs provide opportunities for mentoring, professional development, and educational resources for underrepresented students. Hughey, whose background is in biomolecular engineering, was nominated for the MPHD scholarship by the director and faculty at the UCEM.

“I hope to keep advocating for diversity and inclusion and use the scholarship to drive my research and outreach efforts,” said Hughey.

“Our lab is fully committed to promote diversity in STEM fields," said Dajiang Liu, assistant professor of public health sciences. "Jordan made tremendous scientific and professional progress since he joined the lab. Jordan’s research has led to a much- improved understanding of the genetic basis for complex human diseases, in particular smoking/drinking addictions,”  

“I am pleased by the early recognition that Jordan is receiving in our program," said Cooduvalli Shashikant, Chair of the Bioinformatics and Genomics graduate program. "At Penn State, he has been the recipient of the Bunton-Waller Fellowship; a traineeship in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Computation, Bioinformatics and Statistics Predoctoral Training Program; and received a Graduate Fellowship Research Program award by the National Science Foundation. I appreciate his research accomplishments to date and his commitment toward supporting our efforts with diversity recruitment and retention.”