Henry Luce Foundation is pleased to announce its continuing commitment to the advancement of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through the Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM, which recently concluded its annual competition. The Clare Boothe Luce Program Selection Committee selected seven outstanding proposals from the 22 institutions that were invited to submit.
Launched in 1989, the Clare Boothe Luce Program encourages women to study and teach in STEM disciplines in which they have been historically underrepresented. A total of 49 women from the selected institutions will have their salaries or scholarships funded by Luce, giving institutions the capacity to understand and address the barriers that women in STEM encounter on each campus, cultivating opportunities for women to pursue, persist, and thrive in STEM.
Aida Gureghian, Program Director for Leadership, noted, “In developing programs and strategies that address the barriers preventing or discouraging women’s pursuit of and advancement in STEM study, research, and leadership, we believe departments and campuses will create cultures that will benefit all members of their communities. After all, invested mentorship, engaging foundational courses, and transparent tenure practices (to name a few) might most benefit women on campus, but these practices also cultivate environments and structures ensuring access, opportunity, and equity.”
Awards to invited institutions total $4.4 million, complementing the $6,163,300 in grants made by the Foundation in 2025 to the 13 institutions designated in Clare Boothe Luce’s will to receive annual awards in perpetuity. Henry Luce Foundation’s total commitment for the Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM in 2025 is $10,563,300, a testament to the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to support healthy, innovative, and equitable STEM ecosystems.
The selected institutions are as follows:
- Emory & Henry University will receive $250,000 for undergraduate scholarships. This grant enables the institution to reallocate funds to conduct a longitudinal data analysis to identify factors impacting the persistence of women STEM majors, establish a peer mentorship program, and expand programming that enhances belonging and confidence for women in STEM majors.
- Felician University will receive $700,000 for undergraduate scholarships. This grant positions the University to realign resources to initiate innovative teaching practices that will address barriers in student math proficiency and improve learning in STEM disciplines, including course redesign, a summer bridge program, and experiential learning practices.
- McKendree University will receive $650,000 for professorships. This support helps enable McKendree to reallocate funds to create a cohesive, supportive ecosystem that elevates rural STEM talent in southern Illinois through professional development for STEM teachers, a high school STEM camp, internships, and student-faculty research.
- Pennsylvania State University will receive $700,000 for professorships. With this grant, the institution can reallocate funds to help support the CBL WISe Initiative to improve retention and advancement for women faculty in all STEM colleges by ensuring advancement, belonging, and equitable access.
- Rutgers University – Camden will receive $700,000 for professorships. This grant positions the University to realign resources to perform an extensive self-study and launch STEM-UP, a multifaceted program offering mentorship to STEM faculty and students, community outreach, and curriculum reform.
- Seattle University will receive $700,000 for professorships. With this support, Seattle University will be able to develop and run highly impactful career-relevant experiential learning courses across the College of Science and Engineering.
- University of Massachusetts – Lowell will receive $700,000 for professorships. This grant enables the institution to reallocate funds to redesign high-attrition STEM courses, expand academic support infrastructure across high-drop/fail/withdraw courses, and develop structured leadership development and mentoring for all faculty.
About the Henry Luce Foundation
The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding in pursuit of a more democratic and just world. We do so by nurturing knowledge communities and institutions, fostering dialogue across divides, enriching public discourse, amplifying diverse voices, and investing in leadership development.
