Media Contacts:
Sally Ramey, 919/513-0300
Paul K. Mueller, News Services, 919/515-3470

Dec. 17, 2002

Imhotep Academy to Celebrate 10th Anniversary

More than 200 students, alumni and parents will join the staff of the Imhotep Academy, a pre-college program operated by the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at North Carolina State University, in celebrating the program's 10th anniversary from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at the McKimmon Center. Media attendance is welcomed.

Imhotep Academy is a specialized K-12 science program for student groups under-represented in the sciences. As part of the celebration, area students of various ages will discuss the impact of the program on their academic and personal development, and perform musical selections for clarinet, cello, violin, piano and trumpet.

The academy is part of the Science House at NC State, and offers three sessions a year for students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades interested in science and mathematics. Classes, hands-on learning activities, projects, field trips and guest speakers help nearly 300 Triangle-area students each year understand and excel in technology and the sciences.

The anniversary celebration will feature remarks by Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Dr. Daniel Solomon, dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, as well as student speeches, performances and presentations. Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, Progress Energy's northern-region vice president, will speak on behalf of parents of Imhotep Academy students.

The academy is named for Imhotep, known to the Greeks as Aesculapius, who lived about 2980 B.C. during the reign of the Pharaoh of Djoser. Imhotep designed and built the first step-pyramid of Egypt at Sakhara, and was also a physician, engineer, mathematician, poet, philosopher, prime minister, historian and artist. The Imhotep Academy began in October 1992 at the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, spearheaded by Dr. Wandra P. Hill and Robert G. Savage. The current coordinator is Dr. Joyce Hilliard-Clark.

For more information about the Imhotep Academy and Science House, visit The Science House..

- 30 -