Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, United Negro College Fund

One of the four strategic priorities of The Merck Company Foundation is building capacity in the biomedical and health sciences. In support of this goal, The Foundation launched a joint program with the United Negro College Fund in 1995 to establish the UNCF-Merck Science Initiative. This program is designed to increase the number of African-American students pursuing careers in scientific research.

Each year, the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative provides scholarship and fellowship support to 37 outstanding African-American students who are pursuing studies and careers in chemistry and the life sciences. Awardees are selected through a national competition open to all eligible students at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The awards provide financial support, hands-on training, mentoring relationships and institutional support to help the UNCF/Merck Fellows devote their attention to education.

Here is a discussion with Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, United Negro College Fund (UNCF), on the value of the partnership between The Merck Company Foundation and UNCF.

• Q: What has been the impact of the support UNCF has received from The Merck Company Foundation?
• ML: The UNCF/Merck Science Initiative (UMSI) has made an important contribution to the nation’s economic competitiveness and to increasing diversity among the country’s biomedical scientists. In its 11 years of operation, UMSI has provided $20 million in support to more than 440 students at about 170 institutions.
• Q: How has Merck Company Foundation support helped UNCF create sustainable solutions that address critical societal needs?
• ML: The UNCF/Merck Science Initiative (UMSI) was a model for UNCF’s Corporate Scholars (CS) program, a highly successful series of projects which, like UMSI, has helped high-achieving students get both their college education and on-the-job experience through internships with program sponsors. UMSI has also served as a model for an initiative soon to be launched by UNCF to increase the number and diversity of middle- and high school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers and the college-educated STEM graduates on which the futures of 21st century companies depend.
• Q: What is the value to your organization of your partnership with The Merck Company Foundation?
• ML: In a word, incalculable. Merck has been far more than a funder of UNCF scholarships. Merck’s deep understanding of the complex relationship between biomedical research, diversity and the national economy has been essential in helping shape and position the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative (UMSI). We based the Corporate Scholars program on the UNCF-Merck partnership so that it would benefit not only the students and scholars, but also the companies that sponsored them, the industries in which these programs operated, and the entire national economy.