Think back for a moment to the year 1865. What famous births took place?
Charles Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic, was born. Evangeline Cory Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was born. So, too, was John Raleigh Mott, organizer of the YMCA, and the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats.
But another famous birth took place that year, right here in the Baltimore Washington Corridor. Bowie State University came into being, making it the oldest historically black institution of higher education in the state of Maryland and one of the oldest historically black institutions in the nation.
Accepting the BWCC Foundation award is Bowie State University President Dr. Mickey Burnim (center), who received the Award of Excellence for his institution’s academic leadership in the Baltimore Washington Corridor. Accompanying Burnim are: Wayne Wilhelm (left), Wilhelm Commercial Builders, president of the BWCC Foundation; and Marcia Hall, Reputation COUNTS, immediate past chair of the BWCC.
The institution has evolved from a normal school into a comprehensive university that offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. Bowie State University remains a leader in the graduation of African-Americans in teacher education and technological fields, now boasting more than 5,600 students and last year granting 935 baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees.
Bowie State has received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to enhance minority participation in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines. It received a $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support the Department of Natural Sciences and a $500,000 grant from NASA to enhance the university’s role in aeronautics research through the Chesapeake Information Based Aeronautics Consortium.
Bowie State garnered more than $750,000 in federal grant money to support its new computer science doctoral program, including providing student scholarships.
