Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Faculty Research And Student Support topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
NIU chemistry professor says research-led teaching and NSF scholarships boost student success
Summary
Professor Ralph Wheeler described how research projects, NSF scholarships and industry partnerships support undergraduate and graduate student success, and gave trustees details about two federal grants that fund scholarship and support programs for STEM students.
Professor Ralph Wheeler told trustees that integrating research with classroom teaching gives students real-world context and helps improve graduation and career outcomes. He used his lab’s work on battery safety and ionic liquids to illustrate how student research projects connect to professional development and workforce preparation.
Wheeler, who the board later identified as the 2025 recipient of a Board of Trustees professorship, described an NSF-funded scholarship program that provides financial and social-emotional support to STEM majors. “The original $1,000,000 grant served 48 students,” he said, and “the grant of $2,000,000 will serve another 68 students.” He said those scholarships flow directly to students’ bursar accounts and that the program includes weekly peer meetings, professional-development activities and company site visits.
The nut graf: Trustees heard specific program details and student testimony that NIU faculty said demonstrate how externally funded research and scholarship programs can broaden participation, support students who work while attending school and build regional workforce capacity.
Wheeler described how his research group uses experimental data and computational models to study liquids used in batteries and how that research informs hands-on projects for undergraduates and graduate students. He shared a student testimonial that credited the scholarship program with enabling a student’s career trajectory.
Trustees responded with praise and personal reflections about how small research experiences shaped their own paths. Wheeler urged board members to help broaden funding support beyond federal grants; he said it was his “dream to move this scholarship program off of federal funding to foundation or corporate support” and expressed hope university leadership and partners could scale successful programs.
Ending: Wheeler closed by thanking trustees and asking for help expanding support; trustees congratulated him and noted the award of the board professorship.
