Agilent will fund STEM students from underrepresented groups, and provide lab instrumentation and mentorship to support postgraduate research in the life sciences.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is launching a partnership with Delaware State University (DSU), a leading historically Black university, to increase the share of underrepresented students entering STEM fields, a central mission of the company’s philanthropic work through the Agilent Foundation.

Agilent will donate $1 million in addition to new lab instrumentation to help DSU expand educational opportunities and advance research in applied chemistry, biological sciences, food science, molecular and cellular neuroscience, and related disciplines. Agilent’s support will also contribute to building research capacity of a consortium of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the mid-Atlantic region led by Delaware State. 

“DSU has a tremendous pool of talented STEM students,” said Agilent President and CEO Mike McMullen. “This partnership will help us provide direct support to these students and encourage more scholars at HBCUs across the mid-Atlantic to consider opportunities at Agilent and within the broader life sciences sector.” 

Agilent’s donation comes as DSU breaks ground on a new 24,000-square-foot building for its College of Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST), which includes space for new labs.

“Many believe that this is a renaissance moment for HBCUs. It’s not,” said DSU President Dr. Tony Allen. “We’ve been doing the work for 175 years—building the most useful pipeline for African Americans to the American middle class and breaking new ground in every field of human endeavor. Great companies like Agilent understand the work and are connecting with our system for the long term, a system still producing 25% of all the Black STEM graduates in our country. Our partnership with Agilent is about making the HBCU difference today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.” 

The donation will fully fund 21 graduate and undergraduate students pursuing STEM degrees. Agilent is also providing analytical lab instrumentation, supplies, services, and other infrastructure to equip CAST’s new lab space. 

“DSU is making important contributions to the STEM fields, and this donation will help ensure this historically underinvested and underrepresented community is getting the resources needed to have an even greater impact,” said Gregory MacKenney, the vice president of Agilent's instrument supplies business, and an alumnus of Morgan State University and co-founder of Agilent’s networking group for Black employees. 

Agilent will also provide mentorship opportunities for DSU students with Agilent scientists, engineers, and researchers and will help fund DSU’s summer internship program for STEM students. 

To further support the partnership, Agilent is double-matching employee donations to HBCUs through the end of the year. The investment in HBCUs is part of Agilent’s broader philanthropic work, which focuses on increasing the pipeline of early-career professionals entering the life-sciences sector and addressing climate change and other environmental issues. It also advances the goals of Agilent’s diversity and inclusion programs.