Baylor Sociology Doctoral Candidate Awarded RAND Funding

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Media Contact: Terry Goodrich (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (May 8, 2012) - Sam Stroope, a doctoral candidate in the department of sociology in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University, has been awarded competitive funding to attend the 19th Annual Research ANd Development (RAND Corporation) Summer Institute.
The institute consists of two annual conferences that address critical issues facing the aging population. It will include the "Mini-Medical School for Social Scientists" and the "Demography, Economics, Psychology and Epidemiology of Aging." Both conferences will take place in July in Santa Monica, Calif.
The summer institute is designed to help young scholars examine critical issues facing aging populations - including the interrelationships among health, economic status, socioeconomic factors and public policy. Stroope said the experience will aid him in his doctoral dissertation research about health disparities in India as well as research about aging and health among Hispanic Americans.
Other recent achievements by Stroope include a grant awarded from the National Science Foundation to support his dissertation on community context, gender and health; and an invitation to a highly-selective workshop on race and health disparities, to be held this summer in Michigan. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, its goal is to introduce promising researchers to the national health datasets they will be using in their research careers.
A letter inviting Stroope to the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJF) Workshop on Race and Health Disparities said he was chosen from a large pool of applicants with "an impressive set of credentials. . . We applaud the record of distinction you have achieved to date."
About Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, classified as such with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions.
About the College of Arts & Sciences
The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University's oldest and largest academic division, consisting of 27 academic departments and 13 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines.
by Carmen Galvan, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805