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No one really knows what drove Jonathan Chapman into the Ohio territories in the early days of the 19th century, but he traveled ahead of the advancing settlers, clearing land as he went and planting orchards. When the settlers caught up, Chapman sold them the trees on generous terms and the apples they produced sustained many a family.
Johnny Appleseed's life of restless cultivation—one that combined idealism with a certain business practicality—provides an apt metaphor for the way we at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute think about our grant-making activities. Of course, we cultivate a different kind of ground and our orchards produce a different crop. Our hope is to inspire in students a curiosity that prompts them to explore a new world and instill in them the intellectual and technical tools to be successful. Our expectations for repayment also differ from Jonathan Chapman's—he received coins, cast-off clothes, and food; our goal is to sustain students' interests for a lifetime.
This issue of the HHMI Bulletin profiles several particularly fruitful initiatives at universities and liberal arts colleges that began with seed funding from HHMI. As Peter Bruns, the vice president for grants and special programs, observes, “We want to plant seeds that will grow into a new and more effective science education.” At West Virginia University, for example, Ann L. Chester used modest funding from HHMI to create a winning program. The Health Sciences and Technology Academy began more than a decade ago in a handful of communities. Thanks to Chester's drive and her ability to engage students, parents, other philanthropies, and state legislators, the Academy now extends to 26 counties. Graduates of the program not only make it to college—one of Chester's main goals—but also go on to graduate and medical school.
Photo: Paul Fetters
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