A renowned scholar and president of the only African-American, all-male four-year college in the United States, will deliver a lecture Thursday titled “Increasing Participation of Minorities in Scientific and Technical Fields” at Iowa State.

Walter Massey, president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., will speak at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dan Robinson, chairman of the George Washington Carver Selection Committee and interim department chair of educational leadership and policy studies at ISU, said Massey’s speech will provide valuable information about the underrepresentation of minorities in scientific professions.

Robinson said the lack of minorities in technological and scientific fields is due in part to a “difference in access to higher education or quality education.”

He said higher education provides “the tools … that allow for choices … really early on in life.”

“I think that we’ve had a great deal of success [with] historically black institutions, [but] we do not, at present, have diverse representation,” he said, adding that many concerned people are focusing on enhancing the availability of quality education.

Robinson said he believes Massey will take an honest view of the issues at hand.

Although he never has heard Massey speak, Robinson said he has observed positive feedback from many of Massey’s colleagues. He noted that since ISU is a science-orientated institution, “many of the people here are very familiar with him.”

He added that Massey is a role model for people of all colors and backgrounds.

“Having role models [teach] that you can achieve you’re goals, I think there’s value in that,” Robinson said. “His mere presence should stimulate the environment.”

Robinson said he strongly encourages students to attend Massey’s lecture to learn from his experiences in the professional world.

“I think my primary interest is the opportunity to expose students from different backgrounds to a senior level scholar in an academic environment, adding to their own motivation to be the best that they can be,” he said.

According to a press release, Massey has a vast background in education.

After graduating from high school in the 10th grade, he received both a master’s of science and a doctorate of philosophy degrees in 1966 from Washington University.

He also has attended Howard University, Columbia University and Morehouse College. His Ph.D. research involved the development of a theory and the calculations of the ground state properties of liquid helium.

Massey also has been a member of many prestigious organizations, including the Rockefeller University Board of Trustees since 1996 and the Commonwealth Fund Board of Directors since 1993.

He also was part of the Chicago Tribune Company Board of Directors and the MacArthur Foundation Board of Directors.

Massey’s lecture is sponsored by George Washington Carver Visiting Scholars Program, ISU Office of the Provost and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body.