ExxonMobil Spends $125M on Math and Science
IRVING, Texas -- ExxonMobil Corp. will spend $125 million to fund math and science training for teachers and incentives for students who take advanced courses in the U.S., the largest charitable contribution in the company's 125-year history, Bloomberg News reported.
The money will go to the National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit group that encourages math and science majors to pursue teaching careers, according to Gerald McElvy, who oversees ExxonMobil's philanthropic foundation of $200 million annually.
The National Math and Science Initiative will also provide training programs for teachers of advanced-placement courses, and reward high school students who pass exams in those classes, McElvy told Bloomberg News. The program’s goal is to reverse a decline in math and science skills among U.S. students, which were highlighted in a 2005 National Academies of Science report, the company stated.
"We stand in real danger of falling behind in innovative capacity," Tom Luce, the group's chief executive officer and a former assistant U.S. secretary of education, told Bloomberg News. "Most of the good-paying jobs that'll be created in this country in the future will require a whole lot more math and science literacy than in the past."
Nonprofit education groups will administer the programs, according to Luce. About $13 million in grants to organizations in Virginia will be announced today, followed by donations in six other states during the next two weeks, the report stated.
The money will go to the National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit group that encourages math and science majors to pursue teaching careers, according to Gerald McElvy, who oversees ExxonMobil's philanthropic foundation of $200 million annually.
The National Math and Science Initiative will also provide training programs for teachers of advanced-placement courses, and reward high school students who pass exams in those classes, McElvy told Bloomberg News. The program’s goal is to reverse a decline in math and science skills among U.S. students, which were highlighted in a 2005 National Academies of Science report, the company stated.
"We stand in real danger of falling behind in innovative capacity," Tom Luce, the group's chief executive officer and a former assistant U.S. secretary of education, told Bloomberg News. "Most of the good-paying jobs that'll be created in this country in the future will require a whole lot more math and science literacy than in the past."
Nonprofit education groups will administer the programs, according to Luce. About $13 million in grants to organizations in Virginia will be announced today, followed by donations in six other states during the next two weeks, the report stated.