The Honorable Bart Gordon Receives Honorary CUR Fellows Award at Capitol Hill Ceremony
Newswise — Washington, DC- Every day, across the nation, undergraduate students and faculty advisors engage in research that profoundly affects their educational and professional aspirations. On April 24, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) will honor the research achievements of 74 undergraduate students from colleges and universities nationwide at the 16th annual Posters on the Hill event on Capitol Hill. At this annual event, students selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants share their undergraduate research with Members of Congress, congressional staff, federal government officials, academics and others. At this year’s event, CUR is privileged to bestow upon the Honorable Bart Gordon, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the 2012 Honorary CUR Fellows award. This award is presented annually to leaders working to promote undergraduate research and the mission of CUR.
“During my time on Capitol Hill, I understood the importance of undergraduate research, the opportunities and experiences it brings to young people, and the richness it adds to campuses across the country. I am so pleased to be named an Honorary CUR Fellow and look forward to continuing to support undergraduate research and its role in fostering innovation and its contributions to the research enterprise,” said Mr. Bart Gordon. Undergraduate research is an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline. CUR and its affiliated colleges, universities, and individuals share a focus on providing undergraduate research opportunities for faculty and students at all institutions serving undergraduate students.
Gordon joins former National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement, former Representative Vern Ehlers (R-MI)—another champion for research and education who left Capitol Hill last year, and Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ), the Congress’s lone physicist, who received the award in previous years. As CUR expands the ranks of its honorary fellows, CUR Executive Officer Elizabeth Ambos said, "We are delighted to honor and celebrate Representative Bart Gordon as a 2012 Honorary Council on Undergraduate Research Fellow. His twenty-six years of public service, his leadership on the House Science Committee and his commitment to the advancement of the nation's research and innovation infrastructure are just a few elements of his tremendous legacy. While in Congress, he was a remarkable supporter of undergraduate research and CUR's Posters on the Hill event, taking the time to personally meet with students attending POH, particularly those from his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University. Representative Gordon understands the important role undergraduate research plays in the programs administered by the country’s scientific and research agencies and on the campuses of the colleges and universities that have undergraduate research programs, and I look forward to continuing to work with him on the research and education issues that are so important to our country and its future.”
CUR’s annual Posters on the Hill event is an important opportunity for lawmakers to see how federal programs and dollars make a real difference for students and faculty and nurture interest in research and postsecondary study. The reception, being co-hosted by the American Chemical Society, will take place in B338-B340 in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill from 5:00 through 7:30pm on April 24.
##Council on Undergraduate Research: The Council on Undergraduate Research (www.cur.org) supports faculty development for high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. Over 650 institutions and 7000 individuals belong to CUR. CUR believes that the best way to capture student interest and create enthusiasm for a discipline is through research in close collaboration with faculty members.
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