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Who We Are

What is the McNair Scholars Program?

Image of McNair Scholarship students posing for the camera.

In October 1999, the Department of Education awarded a Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Program) grant to 91²Ö¿â. This federal initiative,

 which is part of the TRIO Program Authority, was established in 1986 in memory of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, physicist and astronaut, who died in the space shuttle Challenger Explosion. The purpose of the McNair Program is to prepare first-generation, low-income, undergraduate students, from groups underrepresented in graduate schools, for doctoral study. McNair Scholars are engaged in a variety of activities, including mentored research, and academic and cultural seminars.

The 91²Ö¿â McNair Program, known as the KSU McNair Scholars Program, is administered through University College. Our program consists of an Academic Year component and Summer Research Institute, in cooperation with the Honors College. The McNair Program is authorized for 26 students each year. 

The Life of Ronald E. McNair 195-1986.

One of America’s first African American astronauts, Ronald Erwin McNair was born October 21, 1950 to a struggling family in racially segregated Lake City, South Carolina. Even as a child, he refused to accept second best. A star athlete, honor student, skillful musician and karate champion, he set a goal of getting his Ph.D. within 10 years of graduation from high school.

After graduating from Carver High School, Lake City, South Carolina, in 1967, he attended North Carolina’s Agricultural and Technical State University where he graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in physics in 1971. He then enrolled in the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1976, at the age of 26, he earned his Ph.D. in laser physics. In addition to his Ph.D. in Physics, Ronald McNair was an attentive husband, a loving father to his son and daughter, a 6th degree black belt in karate, and an accomplished jazz saxophonist.