Welcome remarks to CASI/IUSL symposium

Welcome Remarks To CASJIIUSL SymposiumDr. Bernard W. Harleston, PresidentThe City College of The City University of New YorkNew York, NY 10031City College has emerged over the last decade as a major center for research andscholarship. During 1989-90, for example, CCNY was awarded over $18.6 million insupport for sponsored research, the largest total in our history and the largest amount forany CUNY college.During the decade of the 1980's, funding for sponsored research totalled over $120million. The college also receives significant support from corporations, foundations,alumni and friends, amounting to approximately $6.5 million during 1988-89.In tandem with its emergence as an important Center for high level research, CCNYhas added a significant new dimension of extensive community outreach and interaction.There are now over forty programs in place that provide thousands of local students withacademic experiences, instruction and counseling.And there has also been a dramatic expansion in projects that address such criticalnational priorities as increasing the number of minority scientists and engineers.According to the American Council on Education, black, Hispanic and other minorityworkers will comprise one-third of the net additions to the U.S. labor force by the year2000. In ten years fully 85 percent of new entrants into the work force will be minoritiesand women. If the U.S. is to maintain its leadership in science and technology into thenext century there must be a dramatic expansion in the pool of talented men and womenwho will help form the next generation of scientist and engineers.For example, white women, native Americans, blacks and Hispanics account for only14.5 percent of all employed scientist and engineers. But these groups represent nearly 65percent of the total population. In addition, the percentage of male graduates in the U.S.receiving engineering degrees is about half that of Japan, and minorities and women aregrossly underrepresented.The National Science Foundation has projected that the United States will face ashortage of 675,000 scientist and engineers by the year 2006. And white males, whocurrently make up 80 percent of the engineering and scientific work force, will account forless than one-third of the college age population by the year 2010.Clearly, the nation must come to grips with this demographic challenge. The need tobring minority students and women into the scientific mainstream is no longer a matter ofsocial justice alone. It is now a social imperative that will determine whether or not thisnation will be able to compete creatively and successfully in the global market of ideas andtechnological innovation in the 21st century.City College, with one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation, has movedaggressively and successfully to implement pioneering programs to expand the number ofminorities and women in the sciences and engineering. The excellence of these efforts hasbeen recognized by the National Science Foundation, which has supported them withnearly $10 million in grants. CCNY is now a national model in the drive to expand anddiversify the number of talented students who will become the next geneation of scientistsand engineers.