Terri Sindelar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  202/453-8400)                                 November 
19, 1991

RELEASE:  91- 193

NASA AWARDS HBCU CORE RESEARCH CENTER GRANTS


     NASA today announced the selection of seven Historically 
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to receive Core Research 
Center grants to further develop their research capability and 
research infrastructure.

     Each of the following seven universities will be awarded 
approximately one-half million dollars for the first year.  
Awards will be made for up to 5 years for focused research 
conducted in space science and applications, advanced space 
technology and advanced aeronautics technology.  

     o  Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.
     o  Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.
     o  Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fla.
     o  Hampton University, Hampton, Va.
     o  Howard University, Washington, D.C.
     o  North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, N.C.
     o  Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Ala.  

     Universities were selected based on a competitive merit 
review by a team of industry, government and academic evaluators, 
with subsequent site visits by teams of NASA officials.  To be 
eligible to compete, universities must, at a minimum, award 
master's degrees in science, engineering, computer science or 
mathematics.  

     These new awards will provide short-term and long-term 
benefits to NASA in that the research disciplines are all related 
to NASA requirements and potential agency employees will be 
trained and educated in the research environment provided by the 
grants.

     "Today's awards mark a new phase in NASA's relations with 
the HBCUs which results from more than two decades of funding 
small individual principal investigator proposals.  These awards 
are based on helping the selected HBCUs build research 
infrastructure and institutional capabilities that would enable 
them to do mainstream competitive research," said Dr. Lennard 
Fisk, Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, 
NASA Headquarters. 

     The Core Research Center initiative is a new approach for 
meeting some of NASA's present and future research and workforce 
requirements by tapping into the pool of under-represented 
minority students and faculty who are nurtured and developed at 
these institutions.  

     Research activities by the HBCU Core Research Centers will 
be monitored by NASA Headquarters and field centers.

                           - end  -