Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

IBM Will Invest $100M In HBCUs, Including Four In North Carolina

N.C. A&T University is one of four North Carolina HBCUs that will partner with IBM to strengthen tech industry skills. Photo courtesy N.C. A&T

Computer titan IBM is planning on investing $1 million in historically Black colleges across the country. Four North Carolina HBCUs will be included in the first round of partnerships.  

IBM officials say the initiative is part of its response to George Floyd's killing in police custody and recognizes inequality in the business world.

The company will initially work with 13 HBCUs to strengthen computing skills required for jobs in the tech sector.

The funding will help provide software training and digital certifications in areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

The News & Observer reports four colleges in North Carolina will benefit, including N.C. A&T, the largest HBCU in the country. A&T will also participate in a separate IBM program centering on quantum computing.

Other North Carolina schools partnering with IBM include N.C. Central, Fayetteville State, and Johnson C. Smith University.

One IBM executive says the program is meant to show Black students that a career in the traditionally high-paying field of technology is possible. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate