Isiah Warner, an acclaimed chemistry professor and mentoring leader from the University of Louisiana, shared his best practices on promoting a diverse student body with ISU STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) faculty on Thursday at Howe Hall.

“A diverse environment helps students learn better … you learn better by reinforcing your knowledge with someone who thinks differently from you,” Warner said. “We are also talking about political, racial and economic diversity.”

Warner is part of the chemistry program of the University of Louisiana that is known to graduate more African-American Ph.D. chemists than any other chemistry program in the nation. Warner’s mentoring program for STEM students at the University of Louisiana, HHMI/LA-STEM, gives graduate students an internal support system.

“Over 90 percent of our students stay in STEM,” Warner said. “Students really have to have a support system within each other … with Hispanic and African-American students they sometimes lack that support system and that is what we offer them.”

Students are referred to Warner by various faculty in Louisiana and surrounding areas. He spoke about his “supporting of all students.”

“People think I only support minority students,” he said. “I, in fact, have graduated more majority students than minorities.”

Matt Frank, chairman of the diversity committee of the College of Engineering, spoke about Warner’s potential influence on ISU teachers and mentors.

“Our committee wants to promote best practices, what is the best approach to recruiting students and to doing mentoring,” Frank said. “Not everyone survives the graduate programs … [Warner] is known for students who succeed, students who go further and excel in their fields later on in life.”

John Taylor, an ISU program coordinator and executive in the Emerging Leaders Academy for minority students, also praised Warner’s efforts. “He is well-respected for the work he has done for minority graduate students and doctorate students who are in STEM fields,” he said.

‘Iowa State is doing a better job of keeping more minorities in STEM programs. This is in part due to people like Isiah Warner coming and giving their best practices and feedback to ISU students and faculty,” Taylor said.

Ward Van Hout, an international student from Belgium who is the international student representative for the Society of International Engineers, spoke about Warner’s lecture.

“As an international student, the system in America is different from Europe,” he said. “These kinds of lectures are really helpful in understanding the school culture.”

Warner described himself as a scientist from a very young age. He pointed out how minority students’ interest in science has been shown through surveys to decrease from 10th grade on. Warner grew up in Louisiana where he attended Southern University to attain his bachelor’s degree in 1968. He later received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1977.