The founder of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy was delighted at the latest report of graduates’ college degrees.
Leon Lederman, Nobel laureate in physics, proposed and lobbied politicians 11 years ago for a publicly financed residential high school in Aurora to attract some of the best and brightest minds in Illinois.
The school was established in 1985, and officials track graduates and report on their progress.
In the latest study of the Class of 1990, 60 percent of graduates now have earned a college degree in either science or mathematics, compared with the national average of 25 percent.
“Fifty percent is great,” Lederman said. “When we started the academy, we expected 50 percent. We call it the math and science academy, but we know it attracts other students.”
Students must express an interest in mathematics and science when they apply, and the academy attracts top students from throughout Illinois.
“It’s a stacked deck to begin with,” admitted LuAnn Smith, director of admissions, who said 800 applicants apply each year for the 250 slots in a new sophomore class in the three-year school.
While pleased with the latest report, Lederman and other academy trustees want the study taken to another dimension. Trustee Jack McEachern, president of Wayne Circuits, an Oswego electrical firm, asked, “How many students intended to get into math and science, but did not?”
School researchers promised to deal with that issue in the next survey of an academy graduating class.
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