Bayer and the Big Ten Conference Team Up to Advance STEM Education in the United States

WHIPPANY, N.J. and ROSEMONT, Ill., Feb. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer, a global leader in health care and agriculture, and the Big Ten Conference Tuesday announced a partnership that advances STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education and raises awareness of agriculture in the United States.

Throughout the year, Bayer and the Big Ten Conference will engage with students and fans on the importance of furthering STEM education in agriculture and health care, subjects of great importance to both organizations. For more than 20 years, Bayer has been reaching students, teachers and parents through Making Science Make Sense®, Bayer's company-wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science education, employee volunteerism and public education. Likewise, the Big Ten leads all athletic conferences in PhD completion in the fields of Mathematics, Engineering and Science. Additionally, the Big Ten footprint includes six of the nation's top 10 agriculture-producing states.

"Bayer is extremely proud to partner with the Big Ten, one of America's most prestigious academic and athletic conferences," said Raymond F. Kerins, Jr., Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Bayer. "More importantly, Big Ten schools are producing the next generation of scientific leaders that can help companies like Bayer tackle some of the world's greatest health and nutritional challenges."

Bayer's association will be felt throughout the football and basketball seasons, as well as in Olympic sports including wrestling, hockey, soccer and track and field. Bayer and the Big Ten will also work together in a community volunteer event during the week of the 2017 Big Ten Football Championship in Indianapolis.

"The Big Ten is proud to partner with Bayer, an iconic brand that shares our passion for empowering the leaders of tomorrow," said Big Ten Conference Deputy Commissioner Brad Traviolia. "We look forward to providing a platform for Bayer to educate our students and fans on the important areas of STEM education and agriculture and health care awareness."

Kerins noted that the Bayer-Big Ten partnership is modeled after recent Bayer U.S. partnerships such as the Luke Bryan Farm Tour and the New York Red Bulls. These collaborations place a heavy emphasis on community service initiatives, customer interaction and employee engagement.

"At Bayer, we are dedicated to the communities where our employees live and work," Kerins said. "We look forward to raising Bayer's profile in Big Ten country."

Big Ten member universities include the University of Illinois, Indiana University, the University of Iowa, the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, the Ohio State University, the Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University and the University of Wisconsin.   

Bayer: Science For A Better Life
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2016, the Group employed around 115,200 people and had sales of EUR 46.8 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.7 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.us.

About the Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,500 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men's ice hockey and men's and women's lacrosse since 2013. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.

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Bayer® and the Bayer Cross® are registered trademarks of Bayer.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

SOURCE Bayer

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