According to a 2004 report by the University of Cincinnati, African Americans make up less than 2% of the licensed architects in the United States. Of that group there were only 145 African American women out of 120,000 who were licensed to practice architecture.

Having been involved in the interview process for prospective applicants to Cornell, it was apparent to me that many minority students were not fully prepared or informed to apply to the College. Cornell at present has a summer program that helps prepare students for a five year professional program in architecture but had no available scholarships for those in need. Payout from the Michael Neumann Architecture Summer Program Scholarship will provide this necessary financial assistance to high school junior students participating in the Introduction to Architecture Summer Program in the College, and first preference will be given to minority applicants of African American descent. We hope to continue expanding the funding and exposure of this scholarship program in the coming years.