INFINITY Science Center, USM Join Forces to Foster Education Excellence
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 05:11pm
Board members of INFINITY Science Center and representatives of the University of Southern Mississippi will be signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday, February 15th, at 1 pm beginning a unique educational partnership.
The two institutions are joining forces to ramp up educational opportunities at INFINITY, the new $30 million state-of-the-art Science Center that opened in Hancock County just last year. INFINITY is one of only nine NASA Visitors Centers in the country.
As part of the agreement, USM will seek out grant funding to populate INFINITY with additional interactive educational exhibits and to implement educational programming at the science center, such as teachers' workshops and K-16 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs.
Tish Williams, Executive Director of INFINITY, notes that INFINITY is Mississippi's Center of Excellence for STEM Education.
“With INFINITY as a resource and working together with partners like USM, we have a stellar opportunity to write a new educational equation in Mississippi,” said Williams. “Our goal is to nurture STEM education in students, creating a workforce that encourages businesses to locate in Mississippi and allow our adult children to find rewarding careers right here in their home state.”
Representatives during the memorandum signing will include, George Schloegel, Chairman of INFINITY, Astronaut Fred Haise, Vice-Chairman of INFINITY, Jack Blitch, INFINITY Board Member, Tish Williams, Executive Director of INFINITY, Linda McCarthy, General Manager of INFINITY, Ken Human, Associate Director, NASA Stennis Space Center, Dr. Gordon Cannon, USM Vice-Provost of Research, and Joe Graben, Director, USM Business & Innovation Assistance Center, Office of Research.
For more information about INFINITY Science Center, go to: www.visitinfinity.com