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About Us

About GEM Fellows

Applicants

More than 2200 applicants per year are screened and matched to employer needs.

Average GPA

Students’ average GPA exceeds 3.5 across a wide variety of technical majors.

Full Time Offer

More than 80% of students accept full time offers from sponsoring employers.

GEM Fellowships

More than 5000 plus successful GEM Fellowships since 1976.

Our History

Over the past four decades, the organization, now known as The National GEM Consortium (GEM), has primarily helped thousands from ethnic groups historically underrepresented in the engineering, physical science, and life science disciplines overcome one of the most pervasive barriers to pursuing an advanced degree: identifying and securing funding for graduate education.

Call to Action: 1972
J. Stanford Smith, General Electric Company SVP, calls for tenfold increase in minority engineering graduates within 10 years.

First Step: 1973
National Academy of Engineering sponsors Symposium on Increasing Minority Participation in Engineering.

Ted Habarth: April 1974
Habarth, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory affirmative action officer, drafts national consortium proposal to increase participation of minorities and women in engineering.

Forty Strong: July 1974
University of Notre Dame hosts meeting of 40 representatives from 13 research centers, 14 universities, and five advocacy organizations to develop methods to increase representation.

Task Force: Fall 1974
Group charged with revising Habarth proposal based on July meeting recommendations.

Graduate Focus: 1975
Task force reconvenes; discovers and agrees mission should fill graduate education gap minority engineer development pipeline. Proposal is completed and sent to 53 institutions and organizations with cover letter from Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, University of Notre Dame president.

First Fellows: 1976
Six Master’s in Engineering (MS E) fellowships are awarded.

1978
Howard G. Adams, PhD, becomes executive director

1981
Ted Habarth appointed president

1985
106 fellowships awarded

1987
Edward W. Seeberger appointed president

1990
PhD Engineering (PhD E) and PhD Science (PhD S) fellowships launched

1990
GEM awards 132 MS E, 15 PhD E, and 15 PhD S fellowships

1992
105 students total have graduated from the MS E program

1993
214 fellowships awarded. First two PhD E students graduate

1993
John A. White appointed president

1995
Charles Vest appointed president

1996
GEM’s 20th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C.

1996
Faculty Bridge (now Future Faculty Professionals (FFP) Symposium) launched

1998
GEM awards 174 MS E, 9 PhD E, 40 PhD S fellowships; graduates total 129 MS engineers, 10 PhD engineers, and seven PhD scientists

2001
GEM win the Exemplary Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Partnership Award by the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network

2001
Kurt Landgraf appointed President

2003
Ronald E. Goldsberry appointed President

2004
Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) Blue Ribbon Panel names GEM the “sole exemplary graduate-focused program” in A Bridge for All: Higher Education Design Principles to Broaden Participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

2006
GEM’s 30th anniversary celebration in Chicago, IL; GRAD Lab launched

2007
GEM Moves from the University of Notre Dame to Educational Testing Services (ETS) offices in Washington DC; Juan Andrade appointed President

2009
GEM secures permanent home in Alexandria, VA; Michael L. Vaughan appointed President

2010
Alfred Grasso appointed President

2011
GEM’s 35th anniversary celebration at the National Harbor (Maryland – DC Metro)

2012
Eric D. Evans appointed President
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