innovate arkansas

The convocation was organized by the National Academies - an organization addressing the nation's critical needs in science, engineering and medicine - to highlight growing economic challenges.

The Arkansas delegates joined several hundred others from across the nation for the event, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm Two Years Later: Accelerating Progress toward a Brighter Future." Each was selected by the National Academies for their involvement with the Arkansas STEM Coalition (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and Arkansas ASSET Initiative (Advancing and Supporting Science, Engineering and Technology).  

The convocation focused on fluctuating economic occurrences since 2005, when the National Academies released its report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for Brighter Economic Future." Topics of discussion included passage of the bipartisan America COMPETES Act, which was signed by President Bush in August, as well as state and privately-supported initiatives. Participants also explored ways to revive American innovation to bolster and sustain economic progress.

Among those in attendance: Greg Nabholz, vice president of Nabholz Construction and chair of the Arkansas STEM Coalition; Mike Gealt, dean of the College of Science & Mathematics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and vice chair of the Arkansas STEM Coalition; Jerry Adams, executive director of the Arkansas Research Alliance and past vice chair of the Arkansas STEM Coalition; James Hendren, software developer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and past chair of the Arkansas STEM Coalition; Suzanne Mitchell, instructor at Arkansas State University and treasurer of the Arkansas STEM Coalition; and Gail  McClure, vice president of the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (ASTA) and past secretary of the Arkansas STEM Coalition. All have been leaders in the Arkansas STEM Coalition and were active in the 2007 Arkansas Convocation, an event attended by almost 400 Arkansas leaders.  
They were joined by instructors Maureen C. Dolan, Earl Benjamin III and Ellis T. Benjamin from ASU, and students Alison Page and Tatum Branaman from the University of Central Arkansas and Michael Wolverton and Daniel Rucker from UALR.
Following the convocation, all participants and members of Congress were invited to a reception on Capitol Hill hosted by the National Math and Science Initiative, an organization that partnered in the effort.

The Arkansas ASSET Initiative was established in August 2007 by ASTA after being awarded a $9 million grant from The National Science Foundation. The ASSET initiative is designed to boost progress in two scientific research areas that are developing in Arkansas: plant-based bioproduction and wireless nano-bio-info-technology sensors. Both have potential for major economic development as well as regional and national commercial significance.