Seven years ago, Steve White participated in the first Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP). Today, Steve is finishing his dissertation and expects to earn his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry next May. He is a part of the first crop of SR-EIP alumni to make it out of the higher education pipeline—students who might never have considered graduate studies if they had not found the opportunity to try graduate-level research as undergraduates.

“In the summer of 1993, I had just completed my sophomore year as a chemistry major at Delaware State University,” said Steve. “The summer internship that I did at Brown University gave me the opportunity to do research for the first time. If I had not had that opportunity, I probably would not have gone on to graduate school.”

Steve first learned about the SR-EIP from Dr. Jacquelyne Gorum, dean of Delaware State’s School of Education and Professional Studies and DSU’s institutional coordinator to the Leadership Alliance. “The beginning of the Leadership Alliance summer internship program was serendipitous for Steve White and for Delaware State,” she said. “During his first summer research experience, Steve was quite unsure of his talent. He questioned his ability to achieve at the graduate level. SR-EIP demonstrated to him that he could compete successfully.”

Steve started his graduate courses at the University of California, Riverside, in January 1996, immediately after receiving his B.S. degree from Delaware State the preceding month. When Steve receives his degree from UCR in 2001, he will have beaten the national average for time to doctoral degree by two years.

“Delaware State has been a part of the Leadership Alliance since its inception,” added Dr. Gorum. “We credit the SR-EIP with assisting our students in their development as scholars. Steve White is an excellent example of this. As he progressed through his undergraduate years and completed two summer research placements, he became confident of his competence.”

“The SR-EIP research internships enabled me to challenge myself beyond the required laboratory experiments that I did in my undergraduate classes,” said Steve. “They allowed me to see first hand the higher level of expertise required in a graduate research program, and they have been an important part of my academic journey.

“I have been blessed with many scholastic opportunities, and I am very grateful and honored to have been chosen for them.

I am thankful for the support that I received from my advisors at Delaware State University—they helped me realize and maximize my potential at an early stage in my academic career.

“As a graduate student, I have found that my advisor has been very supportive and has allowed me to challenge myself by using my knowledge and creativity. Because of all of the support I have received along the way, I realize that it is very important to give back to my community. If those individuals who came before me had not reached back and extended the same courtesy, then I probably would not be in a position to discuss my educational experiences at the doctoral level,” he said.

Steve is not only a graduate student, but also a husband and father. He and his wife Dawn were married three months after he started his graduate studies in 1996. Their daughter Siera is six months old. “For me, being married as a graduate student has been a wonderful experience,” he said. “Without my wife’s unwavering support, I don’t think I could have managed to make it through this process.”

Steve’s postgraduate plans are in place. “After obtaining my Ph.D., my objective is to start my career in the pharmaceutical industry as a synthetic organic chemist,” he added. “I also aspire to become an adjunct professor at a college or university.”

“We at Delaware State are very proud of Steve White and his accomplishments. He is not only successful academically, but also successful in his interpersonal relationships. Steve epitomizes the Delaware State University motto, ‘Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.’”