About Us
The Minority Serving Institutions Research Partnership Consortium (MSIRPC) is an organization with the primary purpose of enhancing the research, contracting and entrepreneurial capacity of the MSI community. The MSIRPC is an organized array of Tribal, Hispanic Serving, Historically and Predominantly Black colleges and universities, along with corporate leaders, policy makers, government agencies, and senior representatives of professional associations and community organizations. Through its Board of Directors, MSIRPC serves as an enabling agent to provide leadership to its constituent institutions in their individual and collective efforts to grow research, contracting, and entrepreneurship opportunities at the campus level.
Following the MSIRPC’s board’s initial meeting and strategic planning session in Washington, DC on September 11, 2006, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), along with Congressmen Al Green (D-TX) and Gene Green (R-TX), convened a National Press Conference at the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, DC on September 12, 2006, to announce the formal initiation of the MSIRPC. The Consortium was incorporated on September 19, 2006, in Texas.
The origins of the organization may be traced to the 2002 Technical Assistance Workshop for HBCUs, HSIs, and TCUs hosted by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The workshop was a joint effort of the NASA Minority University Research and Education (MURED) and Office of Small Disadvantage Utilization (OSDBU) programs at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). In the short term, the workshop was designed to position HBCU/MIs to increase their knowledge of NASA technical needs and procurement processes. For the long term, new and expanded networks of HBCU/MIs with public and private partners and increased business with Dryden and other NASA Centers in the form of competitive contracts and grants.
With a focus on “building capacity for national competitiveness,” several governmental agencies (i.e., NASA, EPA, DOI, ONR, DoD) continue to support MSIRPC. The initial goal was to create synergy between schools of business and the science and technology areas at MSIs. This goal, along with MSIRPC’s vision and mission, is being achieved through a series of annual conferences, held to date at Southern University at Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2003); Jackson State University at Jackson, Mississippi (2004); The University of Texas—Pan America at Edinburg, Texas (2006); Dillard University at New Orleans, Louisiana (2008); and Morgan State University at Baltimore, Maryland (2010).
Promoting joint ventures and capacity building initiatives for minority serving institutions by creating strategic networking and partnering opportunities with governmental agencies, business and industrial entities, foundations, and small businesses was the founding vision for MSIRPC. This vision continues to under gird the existence of the organization.
Following the MSIRPC’s board’s initial meeting and strategic planning session in Washington, DC on September 11, 2006, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), along with Congressmen Al Green (D-TX) and Gene Green (R-TX), convened a National Press Conference at the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, DC on September 12, 2006, to announce the formal initiation of the MSIRPC. The Consortium was incorporated on September 19, 2006, in Texas.
The origins of the organization may be traced to the 2002 Technical Assistance Workshop for HBCUs, HSIs, and TCUs hosted by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The workshop was a joint effort of the NASA Minority University Research and Education (MURED) and Office of Small Disadvantage Utilization (OSDBU) programs at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). In the short term, the workshop was designed to position HBCU/MIs to increase their knowledge of NASA technical needs and procurement processes. For the long term, new and expanded networks of HBCU/MIs with public and private partners and increased business with Dryden and other NASA Centers in the form of competitive contracts and grants.
With a focus on “building capacity for national competitiveness,” several governmental agencies (i.e., NASA, EPA, DOI, ONR, DoD) continue to support MSIRPC. The initial goal was to create synergy between schools of business and the science and technology areas at MSIs. This goal, along with MSIRPC’s vision and mission, is being achieved through a series of annual conferences, held to date at Southern University at Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2003); Jackson State University at Jackson, Mississippi (2004); The University of Texas—Pan America at Edinburg, Texas (2006); Dillard University at New Orleans, Louisiana (2008); and Morgan State University at Baltimore, Maryland (2010).
Promoting joint ventures and capacity building initiatives for minority serving institutions by creating strategic networking and partnering opportunities with governmental agencies, business and industrial entities, foundations, and small businesses was the founding vision for MSIRPC. This vision continues to under gird the existence of the organization.