The University’s Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program has had reason to celebrate recently, with honors for its newest graduates, the first doctoral degree awarded to a program alumnus and a major federal grant for the program itself.

The $1 million, four-year grant was awarded in October by the U.S. Department of Education, to help support the McNair and the University Undergraduate Scholars programs.

The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program honors the African-American astronaut who died in the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986. The University Undergraduate Scholars Program, which is modeled on the McNair program, helps students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds get admitted to graduate programs of their choice and obtain funding.

Since the McNair program began at UD in 2000, participating scholars have been 100 percent successful in being admitted to graduate school and obtaining funding to pursue their goals.

The newest group of program participants, including 14 new UD alumni who began attending graduate school this fall, were honored at the eighth annual McNair and University Undergraduate Scholars Achievement and Celebration Dinner in August.

“It has been another banner year,” Maria Palacas, program director in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, said at the celebration. “Fourteen graduating scholars were listed as participants, and all 14 were accepted into grad school.”

The event also honored special guest and keynote speaker Cory Ocasio, AS ’01, the first program alumnus to earn a doctoral degree.

“Seven years ago, Cory Ocasio walked into my office and said he was interested in doing research in my lab,” John Koh, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, says. “He has done quite well, and I am very proud of him.”

Koh says that Ocasio’s success embodies the true spirit of the McNair and University Undergraduate Scholars programs in helping students fulfill their dreams of academic success.

“All I did was give Cory the opportunity. The truth of the matter is that he did all the work,” Koh says. “I really believe that the McNair Scholars and University Undergraduate Scholars programs are about giving opportunities, and Cory is an example of how successful a person can be.”

A biochemistry major who graduated from UD with an honors degree with distinction, Ocasio credited Palacas and the McNair and University Undergraduate Scholars programs for encouraging and preparing him to pursue his graduate studies at the University of California in San Francisco.

His graduate school research efforts included combining synthetic organic chemistry with molecular modeling and structure.

Ocasio says that he wants to pass on to others the opportunities for academic success he experienced in the McNair and University Undergraduate Scholars programs.

“When I become a professor, I want to help other scientists. I want to help diversify the face of science,” Ocasio says. “I may be the first Ph.D. of the McNair program at UD, but not the last.”

Palacas says the program gives students not only research opportunities but also a community of support.