Department of Mathematics wins grant to provide fellowships for students from underrepresented backgrounds

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

The University of Iowa Department of Mathematics has received a 3-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program. The grant will allow the department to offer four fellowships per year in 2015-2018.

Department of Mathematics Chair and Professor Dan Anderson, who wrote and serves as PI on the grant, said the department will use the fellowships to help recruit students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in mathematics. Colleen Mitchell, associate professor and chair of the department’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, will administer the GAANN grants.

The Department of Mathematics was also instrumental in securing UI’s designation as a UI’s University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) designation. The UCEM grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is awarded to universities with proven records of educating underrepresented minority graduate students in STEM fields.


The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.