Subject: St. Elmo Brady Academy

Description: The St. Elmo Brady Academy (SEBA) program provides project-based learning activities in science, technology, engineering, and math for local elementary and middle school students. SEBA addresses racial inequities in STEM fields by encouraging STEM interest and identity for students from underrepresented backgrounds. SEBA also broadens participation through early exposure to STEM, builds STEM literacy, and fosters family and community support systems to encourage STEM learning. SEBA is named after St. Elmo Brady, who was the first Black student to earn a PhD in chemistry and did so at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1916.

This program began in 2013 under the same name and has since moved to the University of Houston with the original founders, Ricky Greer and Jerrod Henderson (Phd '10). SEBA at Illinois is a sister program to Houston and is developed with the support of Greer and Henderson.

If you have questions, please email:
Valerie O’Brien (vobrien@illinois.edu), the Coordinator of Equity and Public Engagement at University High
Imani Jones (imanij2@illinois.edu) & Vijay Shah (vijayms2@illinois.edu), 2023-2024 SEBA Graduate Student Coordinators