Research at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) started with humble beginnings by G.W. Carver at Tuskegee Institute AL, the nation’s first HBCU. He is, now, remembered as the man who transformed one crop, peanut, to more than 300 useful products such as food, beverages, medicines, cosmetics and chemicals. However, research was not the focus of most of the newly founded HBCUs to provide, primarily, liberal arts education and training in agriculture for the black minority. HBCUs remained segregated, lacking facilities such as libraries and scientific/research equipment comparable to traditionally white institutions. While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 heralded the dawn of “<i>Equal Opportunity</i>” and the progressive desegregation in the South, many public HBCUs had to close or merge with white institutions due to loss of funding and/or students. In order to remain competitive in enrollment and financial support of the best talents, HBCUs have been expanding their research and federal contracts by working in collaboration with research-intensive institutions and/or minority-serving institutions (MSIs). Albany State University (ASU), an HBCU with a great tradition of in-house and extramural undergraduate research has partnered with the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to offer the best training and mentorship to our undergraduates. Students synthesized -and performed conductivity measurements on- a new generation of ion-pair salts. One of these constitutes, potentially, a non-aqueous electrolyte for the next generation of high energy density batteries owing to its electrochemical properties.

Breakthrough research at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU)

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.