The College’s student innovation lab is well-positioned to provide a pipeline of potential student founders into the state’s innovation ecosystem
Columbia, SC, June 22, 2023, Benedict College is proud to announce that it will participate in a state-funded initiative to position South Carolina as a destination for quantum education, research, and commercialization. Quantum computing is a multidisciplinary field comprising aspects of computer science, physics, and mathematics that utilizes quantum mechanics to solve complex problems faster than classical computers.
“Benedict College’s involvement with these projects will empower the next generation of innovators, providing them with a comprehensive and cutting-edge education in quantum computing,” said Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, President and CEO of Benedict College.
Benedict College will serve as the lead partner for the Quantum Information Science (“QIS”) education program for undergraduates. The College will work with The South Carolina Quantum Association, Clemson University, and several other partners to deploy a QIS curriculum and roadmap based on the learnings of the Q-12 program. The South Carolina roadmap envisions providing a support system that starts with developing QIS interest in high school and supports students from undergraduate studies and on to graduate school. The project will consider how to introduce quantum computing to high school students in engaging ways and how community colleges, technical colleges, and 4-year institutions in the state can work together to promote QIS computing and entrepreneurship.
“We are thrilled to engage our student entrepreneurs with this new field to become major contributors to the growth of the state’s economy and to this new industry.
Our student innovation lab is well positioned to provide a pipeline of potential student founders into the state’s innovation ecosystem,” noted Dr. Tracy Harrell Dunn, Dean of the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship.
Benedict College will also work with the local innovation ecosystem to supply interns and a highly trained workforce for businesses that will utilize quantum computing. Benedict’s award-winning student innovation lab will serve as a facilitator of ideation for student business ideas.
“The new programming in the School of Science and Engineering will be designed to meet the increasing demand for skilled professionals in the quantum computing industry. We will offer a dynamic curriculum with hands-on experiential learning, enabling students to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and technical skills that are essential in today’s competitive environment,” commented Dr. Robert Garner, Dean of the School of Science and Engineering.
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About Benedict College (benedict.edu)
Founded in 1870 by a woman, Bathsheba A. Benedict, Benedict College is a private co-educational liberal arts institution, offering 26 competitive baccalaureate degree programs. The Midlands HBCU welcomes students from all 46 counties in South Carolina, 30 states across America, and 26 countries around the world. The College also has a diverse faculty and importantly, 80 percent of courses are taught by full-time faculty.
Benedict College has been highly regarded and exceptionally ranked for its programs by several academic and traditional publications. For example, Benedict College was ranked as one of the top baccalaureate colleges in the nation by Washington Monthly magazine for creating social mobility and producing cutting-edge scholarship and research. In 2019, Benedict College received the 2019 ACE/ Fidelity Investments Awards for Institutional Transformation and was named the HBCU of the Year by HBCU Digest. Benedict College was listed among the top half of ranked HBCUs in the 2022 edition of Best Colleges by US News and World Report.
Benedict College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and master’s degrees. Six of the College’s degree programs hold national accreditation: The School of Education, Social Work Program, Environmental Health Science Program, Environmental Engineering Program, Studio Art Program, and the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship.
