The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) to Build National Leadership Network to...

The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) to Build National Leadership
Network to Improve College Readiness, Access, and Success

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Invests $910,000 to Support BHEF Initiatives

WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Business-Higher Education
Forum (BHEF), a national organization of Fortune 500 CEOs, prominent college
and university presidents, and foundation leaders working to advance
innovative solutions to U.S. education challenges, has received a $910,000
grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support BHEF's initiatives.
BHEF is dedicated to ensuring that all students graduate from high school
ready and able to succeed in college and work, particularly in the critical
fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and have full
access to higher education.

"By leveraging the combined strengths of business and higher education, BHEF
is uniquely positioned to lead this effort to build a network of leaders who
recognize that, in the 21st century, all students must be college and
work-ready and to advocate for the adoption of practical policies to help
realize this vision," said David Skorton, BHEF Chair and President of Cornell
University.

The grant will support BHEF's ongoing efforts to build a national network of
corporate and philanthropic leaders focused on college readiness, access, and
success, particularly in STEM, through convenings and advocacy. It will also
augment BHEF's existing work with regional and state business and higher
education leaders to incubate and test innovative educational approaches;
advance development of BHEF's Web-based knowledge management system to
disseminate research and best practices; and help to refine and build out a
systems dynamics model that will enable policy makers to analyze the effect of
various policy options on the STEM education system.

"BHEF and its members look forward to continuing to build a cadre of leaders
who are networked to influence their peers and the public, and to equip them
with the information and tools they need to lead educational change," said
Brian K. Fitzgerald, BHEF Executive Director.

Activities supported by the grant will build on work underway in BHEF's two
major initiatives. The Securing America's Leadership in Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative,
www.bhef.com/solutions/stem.asp, seeks to double the number of college
graduates in STEM disciplines by 2015 through research, programmatic, and
advocacy efforts. BHEF's College Readiness Initiative (CRI),
www.bhef.com/solutions/CRI.asp, promotes college readiness, access, and
success for underserved populations, particularly in science and math,
harnessing the influence and resources of BHEF and its membership to address
education issues spanning the pre-grade school to graduate school pipeline.

"If we are to ensure more young people earn high-value postsecondary STEM
degrees, STEM education in the U.S. needs new champions. Because the
corporate and higher education sectors have a considerable stake in the future
of STEM, they are especially well-positioned to lead in this area," said Steve
Seleznow, program director of Education at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. "By strengthening these interdependent relationships, BHEF can
significantly advance its STEM and college-readiness initiatives and build a
network that drives education innovation nationwide."

About the Business-Higher Education Forum

BHEF brings together an extraordinary coalition of corporate, academic, and
foundation members to influence public policy and inspire other leaders to
act. BHEF's board includes numerous nationally recognized corporate and
higher education executives who provide leadership in education, nationally
and locally, including: BHEF Chair, David Skorton, President, Cornell
University; BHEF Vice Chair, William H. Swanson, Chairman and CEO, Raytheon
Company; Warren Baker, President, California Polytechnic State University; Wes
Bush, President & COO, Northrop Grumman Corporation; Winston J. Churchill,
General Partner, SCP Private Equity Management, LP; M. Christine DeVita,
President, The Wallace Foundation; David A. Jones, Jr., Chairman, Humana Inc.;
W.G. Jurgensen, CEO, Nationwide; William E. Kirwan, II, Chancellor, University
System of Maryland; Carl Kohrt, President and CEO, Battelle; David Maxwell,
President, Drake University; Constantine Papadakis, President, Drexel
University; Edward B. Rust, Jr., Chairman & CEO, State Farm Insurance
Companies; Richard Stephens, Sr. Vice President, Human Resources &
Administration, The Boeing Company; and Mark Wrighton, Chancellor, Washington
University in St. Louis.

To learn more, visit BHEF's Web site at www.bhef.com. For BHEF publications,
see www.bhef.com/publications/pubs.asp.

For more information about the Gates Foundation, see www.gatesfoundation.org.

SOURCE The Business-Higher Education Forum

Nancy R. Kuhn, Esq., Director of External Relations, The Business-Higher
Education Forum, +1-202-367-1209