The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) recognizes outstanding mentoring efforts or programs that enhance the participation of historically underrepresented groups in science, mathematics, and engineering.
Joe Omojola, dean at the College of Science at Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO) is well-recognized on campus and in the Gulf area, having committed himself to the instruction and mentoring of students many years ago. He has had success in developing both undergraduate and graduate students as a part of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and other programs. He has helped lead SUNO's math and physics program over the last decade, and has been a positive force in the New Orleans area public school system. Following the disruption brought about by Hurricane Katrina, he has been seeking to build mentor support at area elementary schools. Given the depth of infrastructural damage, tangled governance systems, continuing chaos and losses caused by the storm, he is moving ahead to fill one of the all-too-many critical voids that confront the remaining citizens of New Orleans.
