In This Issue

Our Sincere Thanks to All GEM @ 30 Sponsors

Every individual registering for GEM @ 30 ensures our success, and we thank you. We also want to thank the following sponsors (as of 5.19.06)

Platinum: GM, IBM, Intel, MIT, Motorola                             Gold: 3M                         Silver: Ford                   Bronze: Alcoa Foundation, Argonne, Corning, Johnson & Johnson                         Patron: City College, Delphi, Michigan State, NSF-STCs, Qualcomm                 Associate: Northeastern U,    U of Delaware

GEM Alumni Association (GAA) president Novella Bridges (PhD S), announced a planning meeting for all alumni and graduating fellows on June 28 immediately after the conference opening reception in the InterContinental's Toledo room.

"The GAA was formed at the Las Vegas conference a few years ago and has been in the development stage since that time.  We've worked to start some initiatives such as the "Alumni in Action" fundraising campaign to grow the endowment through alumni donations," Bridges said.  

She noted that since 2003, alumni have contributed more than $80,000 to the GEM Fund out of which 10 PhD fellowships have been awarded.

"We are calling alumni the "Third Pillar of GEM".  We want to use our time in Chicago to formalize strategies and tactics to best leverage our individual work places to increase support for and visibility of GEM.  Alumni are the best proof of the return on investment that GEM delivers.  How we can turn that message into more fellowships, more students with advanced degrees, and more role models in our communities is our goal."

If you are interested in joining the GAA, contact GAA officers to learn how you can be involved in strengthening GEM for the benefit of future fellows.  Hispanic and American Indian alumni are encouraged to join to ensure the GAA is representative of the groups GEM serves.

Alumni 

Member Alert: Messages from Ruhel Christry.

Some members of GEM's board of directors are receiving multiple e-mail messages from a Ruhel Christry.  This person was not in GEM's 2006 eligible applicant pool and, therefore, is not a potential GEM Fellow.  If you are receiving these messages consider blocking the sender's address or adding it to your spam filter.

GEM Launches Upgraded Web Site

There is more to the new www.gemfellowship.org than meets the eye.  Not only does the site boast a clean, modern look and feel to complement GEM's print collateral, but also adds new functionalities with more to come.

"The web site was a priority for me from the beginning," said executive director Michele Lezama, "and I am glad that a change in leadership meant a chance to reassess GEM's web brand and allowed the Executive Committee to access expert web design resources within GEM's budget.  The positive response so far has been great."

In addition to improved organization and navigation, the site now provides users with icons for easy printing and emailing of pages, as well as conversion of pages to PDF documents--all great tools for GEM stakeholders, fellows, and visitors to share site information with peers and potential applicants/sponsors.  The log in application remains unchanged.  Phase II of the web upgrade will solicit a technology vendor to develop a new application and selection system.

Lezama said, "On June 15 we expect to launch the ability to order publications and register for GEM events via an online credit card system.  The long-term goal is for our web site to be an information clearing house.  We are going to catch up with the 21st century and meet the expectation that the web is a powerful tool for building and informing our advocacy community.  Whether it's making the decision to attend graduate school, researching funding sources, attracting new or leveraging current partners for innovative programming and outreach, or just doing a complete job of telling the GEM story to the audiences unfamiliar with our work, the web site is mission critical.  As such, it will continue to evolve to serve the needs of the larger GEM community."

Visit the new site now

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Conference Hotel Registration Deadline Extended: Book Your Room Today  

The deadline to book your room within GEM's block has been extended to Friday, May 26, 2006.  Book your room as soon as possible, as the hotel is otherwise sold out.

There are two convenient ways to make your reservation.

Call Reservations at 1 877 424 2499 and be sure to mention you are reserving your room(s) for the GEM conference OR you can book online.  To use the InterContinental's web site you do not have to register as a Priority Club member.  Simply type in your check-in and check-out dates on the left navigation menu under "Room Availability".  You will automatically be shown rooms with GEM's group pricing.  Choose your preferred room and click "Reserve".  It's that easy.

If your organization or institution is completing the group registration form each individual should still make his or her own reservation or the group coordinator should ensure reservations are made according to your travel policy. 

Students traveling from outside a 50 mile radius of the hotel and registering for Future Faculty and Professionals (FFP) Symposium or Getting Ready for Advanced Degrees (GRAD) Lab receive shared room accommodations paid for by GEM.  The GEM Office must be in receipt of student mini-conference registrations by May 26 to ensure a sufficient number of student rooms.

Please return your registration form or forms today by fax to (574) 287-1486 and reserve your room at the InterContinental Chicago by May 26, 2006.

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Top Ten Reasons to Sponsor GEM @ 30

General Motors Corporation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are the newest Platinum sponsors of GEM @ 30, and we are fortunate to add weekly to the list of employers and universities supporting this once-in-a-lifetime event .  See our home page for a continuously updated list of sponsors .  

 And, why not?  As you consider your organization's or institution's registration, look at the extra benefits at the Patron ($2500) and Associate ($1000) level.  And here are ten reasons not just to attend this year, but to sponsor:

• Top-notch conference speakers and members preparing to engage in the vital work of solving the Quiet Crisis in STEM degree attainment by underrepresented groups.
• Projected attendance of up to 175 undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom will need seats donated by sponsors to attend the gala (see below).
• A gala awards show  helmed by celebrities Holly Robinson Peete and Randall Pinkett (below).   

• Entertainment by Cubanita "nu jazz" song stylist Malena Perez  (above).
• Taped welcoming address by GEM champion Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame.
• Special recognition to legendary former GEM executive director Howard "Doc" Adams, PhD.
• Awards to 13 outstanding GEM members, alumni, and Fellows, including the new categories recognizing one MS and one PhD "Most Promising Male Fellow" and "Most Promising Female Fellow".
• Opportunities to meet students, network with your peers and catch up with old friends.  See the agenda.
• Taste of Chicago opens Friday, June 30 at 11 a.m. just south of the hotel in Grant Park.
• "Breakthrough: Achieving Top Performance With GEM" where Michele Lezama moderates while participants from industry and academia undertake breakout sessions on thought-provoking topics to propose ideas and solutions necessary to take GEM to the next level. 

This conference will be GEM's best programmatic and best supported event in recent history.   You can help make history by joining in this important effort, too.  Review our sponsorship packages and begin receiving branded recognition now and throughout the conference. 

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Fellows & Alumni 

John Belcher , a 2006 PhD Science Fellow-elect, calls himself a rhythmologist.  He has spent years skillfully interweaving his experiences as a mathematician, composer, drummer, educator, and entrepreneur into a non-traditional career that informs his efforts to address the lack of diversity in students attaining advanced degrees in math.  First, though, he had to start with himself.

"Regarding GEM, again a fortuitous development.  A colleague told me about GEM and alerted me to the 2005 GEM conference held in Boston.  Actually, I got the news just a few weeks before the symposium.  I was impressed with what I heard about GEM, its mission and its work.  I was impressed and inspired by the folks whom I met.  And the opportunity to apply for a GEM fellowship was right on time and in time, as a drummer-rhythmologist would say," Belcher said. His fellowship is sponsored by ETS.

Read the entire interview "The Music Man: How Math Equates to Music, Beauty and Advocacy for John Belcher".  

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