WASHINGTON, DC: The Montgomery College in Maryland is receiving is $15,000 grant from the Frank Islam and Debbie Dreisman Foundation. The grant will go towards their 2013-2014 Athenaeum Symposia, which is an annually held series of lectures that are given at the Germantown campus of Montgomery College.
Frank Islam, president of the foundation, called community colleges “pivotal” to America’s future and said that the Symposia puts Montgomery College in a “leadership role” in relation to other community college systems in the US.
“The main purposes of giving money to Montgomery College Athenaeum Symposia is to provide to Montgomery College students access to timely and stimulating topics delivered by today’s experts in international affairs, the arts, politics and economics,” said Islam. “I gave the gift to support the Athenaeum Symposia because of who Montgomery College is, who its students are, and what the symposia can contribute to their learning and development.”
Islam will be giving the opening address for the Symposia’s 2013-2014 academic year on September 10th, with a lecture titled “Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again,” named after his upcoming book that will release in October. The lecture will be at the Globe Hall of the Germantown campus.
Other speakers at the Symposia include: Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Indian freedom fighter Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi; former Congressman Vic Fazio (D-CA); and George Mason University Associate Professor of Religions Dr. Maria Dakeke.
Montgomery College has also been in the news recently for its India Initiative, an ambitious plan to launch a community college-type education system in India to provide technical training for lower income students in India. Germantown campus Vice-President and Provost Dr. Sanjay Rai is an integral part of the initiative.
Islam, in addition to heading up his Foundation, is also the chairman and CEO of FI Investment Group LLC, and was formerly the founder of IT company QSS Group, which he sold for $300 million.
The Frank Islam and Debbie Dreisman Foundation, as of 2011, has over $1 million in assets, with annual income of over $192,000. Islam and his wife currently live in southern Maryland, just outside Washington, DC.