Shapiros Endow Fellowship in Summer Internship Program
By Mika Ono
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) Trustee Ralph
Shapiro and his wife, Shirley, have given $100,000 to endow
a position in The Scripps Research Institute's Summer Research
Internship Program. The gift ensures that at least one undergraduate
student participate in a Education Outreach Program internship
every summer in perpetuity.
"We are deeply grateful for this generous gift," says TSRI
President Richard A. Lerner. "Educating the future generation
of scientists is a responsibility we take very seriously and
it is with great care that we select young students to join
our teams of scientists for an intensive laboratory experience."
He continues, "Often, this is their first glimpse of a thriving,
working lab, and they not only learn important research skills
and technologies, but feel the excitement, vibrancy, disappointments,
and exhilaration of life in the lab. This singular experience
has been a turning point for many young students who, on the
strength of this research opportunity, choose to further their
academic careers in science and commitment to a professional
career in biomedical research."
Ralph Shapiro says, "We hope this gift will enable young
people, especially women and minority students, to come into
contact with basic research and be inspired by its possibilities."
The Summer Research Internship Program is one component
of TSRI's Education Outreach Program, which aims to promote
and improve science literacy, enhance science teachers' professional
development, and inspire students to pursue careers in the
life sciences. Special emphasis is placed on selecting students
from cultures and ethnic backgrounds traditionally underrepresented
in the sciences, including women. This year, 22 San Diego
high school students, four undergraduates, and one high school
science teacher participated in the program.
Since the outreach program's inception in 1993, more than
300 high school students, 34 science teachers, and 82 undergraduates
have participated in summer internships at TSRI. Since 1995,
more than 1,000 teachers have attended the Contemporary Issues
in Bioscience seminar, and in the past three years more than
1,500 high school students have attended the half-day educational
program X-Sci.
Ralph Shapiro (B.S., J.D., University of California, Los
Angeles (U.C.L.A.)), a native of Lithuania, is a leader of
several business enterprises. He holds the positions of chair
of Avondale Investment Company, C.N.A. Property Company, and
Raps Industries. His community activities currently include
membership on boards of the U.C.L.A. Foundation, the U.C.L.A.
Law School, the United Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation,
the Spastic Children's Endowment Foundation, and United Friends
of the Children.
Shirley Shapiro (B.A., U.C.L.A.), who grew up in Los Angeles
and married her husband in 1958, devotes her energy to supporting
the arts and is also active on the board of directors of Women
in Philanthropy.
Other sources of funding for the Education Outreach Program
have included: the San Diego Foundation through its Blasker-Rose-Miah
Fund; the Samuel H. and Katherine W. French Fund and the Maurice
J. Masserini Charitable Trust, both administered by Wells
Fargo Bank; the San Diego Workforce Partnership, which funds
10 to 15 internships each year through the Neighborhood House
Association; the Joseph Drown Foundation; the Carl E. Wynn
Foundation; and the Bank of America Foundation. In addition,
private contributions have been received from philanthropists
Robert Wallace; George and Patsy Conrades; and Oliver and
Norma James.
Endowment funding for the outreach program includes gifts
from John Diekman and his wife Susan Diekman; The William
Randolph Hearst Foundation; and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation.
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Trustee Ralph Shapiro and his wife,
Shirley, have given $100,000 to ensure that at least one undergraduate
student participate in an internship at TSRI every summer
in perpetuity.
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