Urban Scholars Interview Dr. Charles Desmond

Visit: http://www.umb.edu/ua/urban_scholars/ To Support Urban Scholars: https://www.umb.edu/ua/giving/give_online.php Urban Scholars started in 1983 as an outreach effort by the University of Massachusetts Boston to increase engagement in the community and the Boston Public Schools. It was spearheaded by Dr. Charles Desmond who was Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the time.

Dr. Desmond began his career at UMass Boston as the director of Upward Bound, a program to help inner-city students go to college. From this experience, he saw the need to have a similar program for academically talented high school students who were attending Bostons non-exam high schools.

Using his networks at UMass Boston and in the Boston high schools, Desmond acquired funding for a pilot program to focus on preparing gifted and talented students for college. UMass Boston initially sponsored the program, and then Desmond and university leaders sought corporate partnerships, government connections, and grants to supplement funding in order to increase the number of students the program could serve.

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Education

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