ANDOVER, Mass. — The Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT), an educational outreach program of Phillips Academy, has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the recruitment of outstanding minority college students and to prepare them to enter graduate programs leading to teaching careers.

The grant, the largest ever received by a Phillips Academy outreach program, brings to $1.35 million the total given to the IRT by the Mellon Foundation. "The IRT has gained national prominence through its success in tapping individuals of extraordinary potential and helping them to prepare for graduate programs that will lead to careers in teaching at elementary, secondary and university levels," says Lydia L. English, program officer and director of the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship. "The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is proud to work in partnership with the IRT on our common goal to create enduring change in academia that will benefit society through diversity and scholarship."

Founded in 1990 by Kelly Wise, IRT executive director and former dean of faculty and English teacher at Phillips Academy, the IRT recruits outstanding African American, Latino and Native American students to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in the arts and sciences, humanities and social sciences. The program’s mission is to deepen the pool of talented minorities entering the teaching profession. "At a time when the American population is growing increasingly diverse, the number of teachers of color in our nation’s classrooms remains static at about 8 percent," says Wise.

Each year, IRT staff and faculty find and recruit at least 100 outstanding minority college students from across America and provide them academic and individual support to attain advanced degrees in preparation for teaching careers. IRT graduates, now numbering over 660, have enjoyed remarkable success gaining entry to many of the country’s top graduate programs, earning advanced degrees and securing jobs at the elementary through university level.

"Over the years, we have successfully recruited students who hope to meld their love of learning with a desire for social change," says Wise. "Serving as role models to students of all races, these students will join the vanguard of educational leaders in the country who will address current and nagging problems that plague the classrooms of today. They are committed to making a difference."

Since the program’s inception, every student who has wanted to attend graduate school has been admitted to at least one school; most have been admitted to four or more. More than 90 percent of these students have received a full tuition waiver and partial-to-full fellowship funding for up to six years of graduate study. A consortium of 41 prominent universities is pledged to recruit IRT graduates and seek financial aid for qualified applicants.

Twenty-seven IRT alumni have completed Ph.D. degrees; 248 have completed terminal master’s degrees; and 158 have completed master’s degrees and are continuing on to Ph.D. programs. Currently employed in education are 419 IRT alumni, including 156 who are working with kindergarten through 12th grade students.

"The IRT’s mission parallels the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 14-year commitment to the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship program, which is designed to increase the diversity of faculties at colleges and universities throughout the country to bring a wider range of experiences and perspectives to teaching and scholarly discussion," says English. "These programs provide all students with increased opportunities to work with minority professional role models."

Phillips Academy, better known as Andover, is a coeducational independent boarding high school founded in 1778. Throughout its history, the academy has endeavored to be a private school working in the public interest. This commitment has been expressed in several distinctive ways over the latter half of the past century, to a degree that is unparalleled among independent schools. For example, Andover faculty and administrators have been instrumental in the establishment of such programs as Advanced Placement, the School Scholarship Service, School Year Abroad and Outward Bound U.S.A. Phillips Academy has also developed a number of outreach programs, including the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers and (MS)2 - Math and Science For Minority Students. These programs distribute the excellence and power of Andover’s educational experience to a wider audience of students and teachers around the world. The primary constituencies served by these outreach programs are public school and college students and teachers, especially people of color and individuals from underserved communities.