UM Named a Top-50 College for Advancing Women in STEM Careers

UM Named a Top-50 College for Advancing Women in STEM Careers

Sep. 26, 2013

MISSOULA – The Online College Database recently ranked the University of Montana 43rd on its “50 Colleges Advancing Women in STEM” list. UM offers 66 science, technology and math programs, and the 450 women enrolled in them make up 56 percent of STEM students.

The list identifies public, fully accredited higher education institutions that graduate a high number of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and successfully encourage female students’ participation in a variety of STEM programs. UM is the only Montana university on the list.

“This listing in the top 50 colleges nationwide is a testament to the high quality of our science, mathematics and technology programs at UM, and it is extra special since we do not have undergraduate engineering programs, which are a major factor for many of the other universities on the list,” said UM Provost Perry Brown. “We are proud of the many female students who have chosen to pursue degrees in the STEM fields, and to do it in the challenging programs we have at UM.”

View the full list online at http://www.onlinecollegesdatabase.org/50-colleges-advancing-women-in-stem/. The Online College Database uses demographic information from the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System when compiling its rankings. Data includes college majors, enrollment status, financial aid awarded, race, ethnicity, gender and more.

For more information call Brown at 406-243-4689 or email perry.brown@mso.umt.edu.

UM Boasts Efforts in Cybersecurity and Big Data

Several new Information Technology related initiatives were announced during the recent Montana Economic Summit. The Summit, organized by Montana Senator Max Baucus featured an impressive line-up of speaker CEO/COO/CIOs from the technical industry including: Google, Facebook, Tesla, Conoco-Phillips, Boeing, Oracle, Ford, and HP. These industry leaders spoke on topics covering economic growth, job creation, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

In a related development, the University of Montana announced a new facility that will allow students to learn about cybersecurity and use “big data” to solve real-world problems. The Cyber Innovation Laboratory is a collaboration with state technology companies. The lab is an outgrowth of UM’s programs, research and technology, and it will be funded initially through donations from private tech companies. “The Cyber Innovation Laboratory at UM will be a place where students are given real-world experience and learn the technical skills that employees require in this dynamic and growing industry,” stated UM president Royce Engstrom. Cybersecurity is a proposed new plan of study offered at Missoula College.

Missoula Economic Partnership (MEP) President James Grunke’s focus at the summit was spreading the word and making connections to help boost the organization’s Big Data Alliance, focused on creating educational and business opportunities in the big data and cybersecurity industries in Missoula.


Complete details are available from the Missoula and Summit Websites: Gruenke | Cyber Innovation Lab | Montana Economic Summit

Energy Technology grad, Brandon Heuscher quoted at the 2013 Clean Energy Fair in Butte.

Jay Moore and Mark Hansen cited in a recent install

Energy Technology students Jay Moore and Mark Hansen were both mentioned in a Billings Outpost article for their role in a recent photovoltaic installation.