Bayer USA Foundation Awards $600,000 to California State University East Bay

BERKELEY, Calif., April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bayer USA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bayer Corporation, announced today it is awarding a new, three-year $600,000 grant to California State University's groundbreaking Institute for STEM Education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) on the Hayward, Calif., campus.

This marks the second grant by Bayer to the Institute. It builds on the first $540,000 grant given by the Bayer USA Foundation in 2011 to help establish the Institute as a center that addresses regional STEM education opportunities and challenges and encourages more underrepresented students to become the Bay Area's STEM workforce of tomorrow.

The Institute has emerged as a "backbone organization" that brings diverse stakeholders together to improve and advocate for comprehensive STEM education programs in California schools. It expands sustainable school-to-career models like the Biotech Partners program, which was founded by Bayer and the City of Berkeley in 1992, and the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program. Specific focuses include:

• Increasing the number of diverse two- and four-year STEM degree graduates prepared for careers in both industry and teaching;
• Providing pre-service and in-service pre-K --12^th-grade science teachers with quality, hands-on curriculum and ongoing professional training;
• Engaging all stakeholders -- K-12 and higher education institutions, business, and nonprofit science organizations -- to build regional networks that support students' success; and,
• Affording more students access to STEM Career Awareness Days and to a new year-round "Career Impact" program, among others.

"This grant further deepens Bayer's already significant investment in STEM education in the Bay Area, home to our biotechnology business," said Sarah Toulouse, executive director, Bayer USA Foundation.  "As a company that has long been involved in improving science education and science literacy in the Bay Area and across the United States, we have watched the growing impact of the Institute over the last three years, and have great confidence as it works to create a vibrant STEM education and professional community we believe will ultimately serve as a national model."

This latest grant is part of Bayer's ongoing commitment to strengthen STEM education and diversity nationwide, through its Presidential Award-winning Bayer Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) initiative.  MSMS advances science literacy across the United States through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and a public education campaign led by astronaut, scientist and educator Dr. Mae C. Jemison.  The 2013 Bayer Facts of Science Education survey revealed that only half of the nation's employers were able to find qualified two- and four-year STEM degree graduates for a growing number of STEM jobs. 

"We are proud that the Bayer Foundation has renewed its inspiring, philanthropic partnership with Cal State East Bay," said Leroy M. Morishita, CSUEB's president. "The foundation's philanthropic leadership allows us to continue current efforts, while enabling our new endeavors in educational programs vital to the University, our region and beyond. In the three short years since the Institute for STEM Education was started at CSUEB, we have made significant progress in bringing coherence to the often successful but disparate efforts to improve science education throughout California, in identifying and growing effective practices that are scalable and sustainable, and in engaging additional community members in the work. Our faculty is working together—and with community colleges and pre-K-12 schools—more effectively than ever. We now look forward to more exciting progress that prepares the diverse populations we serve for rewarding STEM careers that are the driver of our regional economy."

"For more than 20 years, our Berkeley manufacturing facility has actively supported the development and placement of talented, diverse students from our local communities and we look forward to continuing this long tradition with valued partners like Cal State East Bay," said Joerg Heidrich, senior vice president and global head, Product Supply--Biotech and head of Bayer's Berkeley site.  "We are especially pleased that the Bayer USA Foundation's grant is coming at such a promising moment in California. We've seen great progress in the last three years and believe that the Institute is perfectly poised to leverage the great work that is being done across the state."

The East Bay STEM Career Awareness Day, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, April 11 at 5858 Horton Avenue, Emeryville, is one example of how the Institute for STEM Education is scaling up science education for local students. The event is modeled on an annual conference started by Bayer in 1993 for students in the Biotech Partners program. The 2014 event is part of a growing year-round Career Impact Curriculum designed to build supportive networks of East Bay STEM high school students and connect them with enthusiastic professionals working in STEM companies including biotech, alternative energy, game development, robotics, forensics, and more. About 160 students from five schools will attend. Media are welcome—contact [email protected] for details.

About Bayer Corporation 
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. As an inventor company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve the 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 acts as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. In fiscal 2013, the Group employed 113,200 people at year-end and had sales of €40.2 billion. In North America, Bayer had 2013 net sales of €9,680 million ($12,874 million) and employed 15,200 at year-end. For more information, go to www.bayerus.com.    

About California State University East Bay 
California State University, East Bay, is the San Francisco East Bay area's high-access public university of choice. CSUEB serves the region with campuses in Hayward and Concord, a professional development center in Oakland, and an innovative online campus. With an enrollment of more than 14,000 students, the University offers a nationally recognized freshman year experience, award-winning curriculum, personalized instruction, and expert faculty. Students choose from among more than 100 professionally focused fields of study for which the University confers bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as an Ed.D. Named a "Best in the West" college, as well as a "Best Business School," by the influential Princeton Review, Cal State East Bay is among the region's foremost producers of teachers, business professionals and entrepreneurs, public administrators, health professionals, literary and performing artists, and science and math graduates.

About Bayer USA Foundation
The Bayer USA Foundation is an endowed 501(c)(3) entity and is the primary source of Bayer Corporation's philanthropy in the United States.  With a programmatic focus on the environment and sustainability; education and workforce development; arts and culture; and health and human services, the foundation creates and supports organizations that improve communities in which Bayer employees live and work, as well as society at large. The Bayer USA Foundation is one of three Bayer foundations worldwide, including the Bayer Science & Education Foundation and the Bayer Cares Foundation.

About Bayer in the Bay Area 
Bayer HealthCare is the third largest biotech employer in the Bay Area and a global leader in the research, development and manufacturing of biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical therapies that improve human health. Bayer HealthCare's presence on the U.S. West Coast includes a manufacturing facility in Berkeley and its U.S. research hub, the U.S. Innovation Center in San Francisco. 

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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 Corporation