Individual PAESMEM Nomination of Dr. Isaac Crumbly, CDEP Program

Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley GA

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Isaac J. Crumbly is Vice President for Career and Collaborative Programs and the Founder and Director of the Cooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP) at Fort Valley State University. He has developed a science and engineering pipeline program that begins in the 9th grade and continues through college to employment or to graduate school. Over the past 25 years, Dr. Crumbly has created and directed two outstanding STEM programs at Fort Valley State University: the dual-degree CDEP (Cooperative Developmental Energy Program, in partnership with six other universities), and MSEA (Mathematics, Science and Engineering Academy), both of which have provided significant financial support for hundreds of underrepresented minorities and women from grade 9 through the baccalaureate. In 1992, Dr. Crumbly converted CDEP from an energy internship program for minorities into a dual degree science and engineering mentoring program. The conversion was accomplished by forming dual degrees in Science and Engineering programs with six universities. The objective of CDEP is to develop a mutually beneficial long-term synergistic relationship between Fort Valley State University and the private and governmental sectors of the nation's energy industry by creating a technology-oriented labor base for minorities and women. For seventeen years, Dr. Crumbly has recruited, mentored, and graduated minority students in science and engineering (S&E) disciplines. He diligently assembled and has maintained on-going partnerships with six major universities and numerous corporations and federal agencies. As of January 2009, Dr. Crumbly had recruited, mentored, and graduated 68 minority engineers, 23 geoscientists, and four health physicists. Over 500 9th-12th graders have participated in MSEA, and over 300 undergraduates have participated in CDEP. His efforts have resulted in producing 95 S&E graduates along with approximately 100 students currently participating in the pre-college mathematics, science, and engineering academies program, and approximately 70 students currently enrolled in the dual degree portion of the pipeline, which attests to the intellectual merit of the activity.