What: Grant announcement by Chevron for the University of Utah’s ACCESS Program for Women in Science and Mathematics. News media are invited to cover the event.

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013

Time: Lunch at 1 p.m. Program starts at 1:30 p.m.

Place: Aline Skaggs Wilmot Building (ASB 210), U of U campus

Jan. 30, 2013 – The University of Utah College of Science’s ACCESS Program for Women in Science and Mathematics is being highlighted at an event to announce a grant to the program from Chevron. The program began in 1991 as a way to address the problem of gender inequity in mathematics and the sciences.

“As members of the higher education community, our primary responsibility is to ensure that talented young women be given every opportunity to achieve success in the sciences,” says Pierre Sokolsky, dean of the College of Science. “Here at the University of Utah, the ACCESS program provides a demonstrably successful path for many such women.”

“Chevron appreciates the ACCESS Program and the university’s commitment to programs that target underrepresented groups,” says Mark Sullivan, manager of the Chevron Salt Lake Refinery. “We are proud to provide a $240,000 grant to the ACCESS Program in support of increased efforts to expand the program’s outreach to young women in underserved communities in Utah to increase awareness of the program and participation by qualified students.”

Since the program’s inception, ACCESS has helped more than 500 young women. Of the women who have graduated, 76 percent earned a degree in science or a science-related field, with 15 percent going on to receive an advanced degree in a science-related field. ACCESS students have gone on to careers in medicine, science and engineering.

“Guiding the academic lives of the young women, encouraging them to realize that great scientific or educational challenges are usually followed by great rewards, and helping students realize there is a place for them in the scientific community has been immensely rewarding,” says Rosemary Gray, director of the ACCESS program.

Lt. Gov. Greg Bell emphasizes the importance of these opportunities to young women in the state of Utah.

“Gov. Gary Herbert and I are dedicated to achieving the goal of seeing 66 percent of Utahns with a higher education degree, or certification, by the year 2020,” says Bell. “Part of meeting this challenge is ensuring that underserved residents have a pathway to prosperity, which benefits all of us. I applaud Chevron for helping young women achieve their dreams of having a career in science or mathematics.”