AFOSR boosts ties with HBCU community Published Sept. 25, 2008 By Dr. Kathleen Kaplan AFOSR ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Air Force Office of Scientific Research is working to strengthen ties with America's historically black colleges and universities. Mr. Ed Lee, AFOSR Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) program manager, attended the 2008 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference held in Washington, D.C. Sept. 7-10. The conference provided an opportunity to discuss issues of particular importance to the HBCU community within the context of Presidential Executive Order 13256. Over 600 representatives from the HBCU community, federal agencies, corporations and foundations attended the conference, which took place at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The theme was "HBCUs: Established to Meet a Need, Evolving with the Times, Essential for Today and Tomorrow." "It was a great opportunity to meet people and to continue to spread the message that AFOSR is interested in establishing research relationships within the HBCU community," Lee said. Several notable political figures attended or spoke at the meeting. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a keynote address to attendees commemorating National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week. President Bush also issued a proclamation designating Sept. 7-13 National HBCU Week, with Congress passing a resolution honoring the significant contributions that HBCUs have made to the nation. "In general, higher education is one of the strong points of the U.S. educational system," said Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in his speech. "We must work diligently to maintain the quality of our educational system where it is strong and strive to improve it where it is not. In particular, we must find ways to move more of our students, especially minorities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, into education after high school."