Conversations
Dr. Murray Brockman, President and Kim Bowman, EVP Strategic Development of the Governor's School for Science and Math
MidlandsBiz:
What are the origins of the Governor's School for Science and Math (GSSM)?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
The Governor's School for Science and Math was initially conceived by Governor Carroll Campbell and then-president of Sonoco, Charlie Coker. These two South Carolina leaders had the foresight and courage to address the lack of scientists and engineers that this state was producing. The school was established in 1988 and housed initially on the Coker College campus. We finished Phase 1 of our campus in 2003, and this past January, we had a ribbon cutting on the $17M expansion to our facilities that added over 70,000 square feet of classroom, laboratory and activity space.
Ours is a high school unlike any other in the state and one of only 15 in the country. Located in Hartsville, South Carolina, we are a residential, co-educational public high school for juniors and seniors. We offer a balanced curriculum that places a special emphasis on science and mathematics while also embracing the humanities. The Washington Post recently ranked the Governor's School among the Top 20 public elite high schools in the nation.
MidlandsBiz:
What is the mission of the school?
Kim Bowman:
Our mission is to provide a superb education for the state's best and brightest; our purpose is to improve the economic future of South Carolina.
In American schools, we tend to focus much of our effort on the large group of students in the middle of the academic spectrum or on those struggling to pass – at the expense of our gifted students. Students who are able to reason and think abstractly at an early age need to be challenged. Putting these students in an environment where they are not pushed is a waste of their time and their talent, and potentially kills their thirst for knowledge.
We seek to be a beacon of excellence in education, to deliver a talented workforce that can support and sustain high-tech economic development in South Carolina. For decades our global competitors have been better preparing and training their young students. GSSM exists to create a paradigm shift where our graduates are equipped from day one to make an impact on this state's ability to generate wealth.
MidlandsBiz:
How much does it cost to go to the Governor's School?
Kim Bowman:
As a state public high school, the Governor's School does not charge tuition, but does have a $1,800 fee for each student to help cover the cost of food. Financial aid is available, and no student is denied entrance based on the inability to pay the fee.
MidlandsBiz:
What is your education and professional background?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
I have a PHD in theoretical chemistry. I started the early part of my career doing sophisticated calculations of energy loss mechanisms in lasers designed for fusion reactions. Eventually, I made a change into applied research of polymers at DuPont, the science-based products and services company.
MidlandsBiz:
Talk about your new initiative to include economic and financial education into the Governor's School curriculum.
Dr. Murray Brockman:
The idea to create the new Institute for Economics and Finance at the Governor's School is partly born out of my professional experience at DuPont. Moving from the research laboratory to the business world was not an easy transition for me. Getting research to market at DuPont in those days was a slow process. Researchers would invent something; throw it over the wall into operations; where manufacturing would systematically reject it. We needed a better integration of research, operations, and sales and marketing.
As we sought to develop new products at DuPont, I had to learn commercialization on the fly. My time at DuPont was an often times painful crash course on business, economics and finance - subjects that were not taught in a chemistry degree. How do you make money? How do you manage your cash flow? How do you allocate resources between product development and marketing?
If our students are going to impact the wealth of this state, they need to be more than just science and math experts; they also need a solid grounding in business. They have to start thinking about how what they are learning in science and math can be used to create business ideas that will generate wealth. Our students need to be able to walk comfortably in both worlds so that we can have better integration of research, operations, and sales and marketing.
MidlandsBiz:
How do you execute on that?
Kim Bowman:
We are hiring a Director for our new Economics and Finance Institute who will be charged with designing a program unlike any other in the country. You can't teach a student to be successful in business the same way that you can teach them science and math. We are leveraging our business relationships from around the state to set up corporate internships and real-life, meaningful business experiences for our students.
MidlandsBiz:
How else is the Governor's School involved around the state?
Kim Bowman:
We are proud of the direct impact that we have on the lives of the students who choose to come to the Governor's School. Perhaps more important to our mission is the extended role that we play in bringing real science and math to schools all across the state through our superb outreach programs. We engage teachers, administrators, parents and community leaders to foster a culture of academic achievement that is often sadly missing in some areas of the state. It's about raising the expectation of the whole community of the role that science and math education can have on the future of this state.
We recently received a federal grant, the first in the history of the school, to develop mobile learning opportunities that we can take to underperforming schools. This readiness initiative is designed to keep young people interested in academics so that they can develop their talents to the fullest. The program also helps to identify talented young students with the potential to feed into the Governor's School.
MidlandsBiz:
Is there a danger that a school of this nature might be too competitive, too stressful for juniors and seniors?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
The Governor's School is not for every student. Ours is a challenging academic environment where the expectation in each subject is content mastery. For Governor's School students, subject mastery is fun, but we recognize the importance of offering our students a balanced academic environment and a strong sense of teamwork and mutual support. We have a math and science focus, but we are not math and science only. We offer a rigorous extra-curricular program that includes tennis, volleyball, soccer, track, and swimming, and because we are a small school, we are proud to say that 80% of our students are Division 1A varsity athletes.
We are also offer a rich art and music program with jazz bands and chorus. We have an active clubs program that has engaged in rock climbing and rafting. These are all great stress relievers for our students and help them create a sense of balance in their life.
MidlandsBiz:
How many students do you have?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
We currently have 128 resident students, but with our expanded facilities, our goal is to grow to 300. In doing so, we will not compromise on our culture of excellence.
MidlandsBiz:
Do you offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
We do offer AP courses, but we do not teach to an AP exam. Our philosophy is that if you have sufficiently mastered your subject area, then you will be successful on an AP exam. We do not feel the opposite is true, that if you succeed at an AP exam then you have mastered your subject area.
MidlandsBiz:
The vast majority of teachers at the Governor's School have advanced degrees. Why?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
Teachers at GSSM are chosen for their intelligence, enthusiasm and gift for teaching. Not all people who have mastered a subject can teach it, but to be a good teacher, you need to have mastered the subject. That is our philosophy and that is why 80% of our teachers have doctorates.
MidlandsBiz:
What percentage of your student body attends college in South Carolina?
Kim Bowman:
Our students have many college choices and are frequently accepted into the top universities around the country such as MIT, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Cal Tech, Cornell, and Stanford etc. However, we are proud to say we have sent more of our graduates to Clemson and USC than any other schools in the nation.
As many people know, there is a close link between where you go to college and where you spend your career, so if we want Governor's School graduates to impact the economic future of the state, we need many of them to feed into South Carolina's colleges. We have established close ties with South Carolina colleges through our summer research programs and have cultivated close ties with their admissions departments. Our students do not have to apply to Clemson, for example; they are automatically accepted. We also have articulation agreements with South Carolina colleges that allow our students to receive a Masters degree in five years. Currently, about 70% of our students choose to stay in state annually.
MidlandsBiz:
What is Kim's role at the Governor's School?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
We have given Kim a new title that better reflects the tremendous work that she does here at the school. She is now Executive Vice President for Strategic Direction and CEO of the Governor's School Foundation. Kim loves this school and is 100% committed to moving this state forward.
MidlandsBiz:
What impact are your graduates having in the state?
Kim Bowman:
One of our graduates went on to receive a PHD in computer engineering from Rutgers and ended up being on the site selection committee for Google that led to the search giant's major investment in Goose Creek, South Carolina.
We now have more than 1,200 graduates of the Governor's School for Science and Math living literally everywhere in the world. 20% of them are working in technology, 18% are medical doctors, 16% are engineers, many are in business and law, and many more are teaching math and science. I am proud to say that nearly 80% of GSSM alumni remain in the fields of math, science and technology. They are a great return on our state's investment.
MidlandsBiz:
What challenges are you facing in this tough economic market?
Dr. Murray Brockman:
The challenge at the moment is that our budget has been cut by 25%, so we are forced to find unique ways to grow our mission. As other businesses are doing, we are asking more of our existing staff. As well as being President of the GSSM, for example, I am also for the time being acting as Vice President for Academics. It's not a viable long-term solution, but for the moment, it's a necessary step.
Thankfully, we have tremendous support from private investors. This support is great and seeds great ideas, but public support is obviously critical for long-term viability. We are obviously biased in this assessment, but we are confident that strategic investments in GSSM will serve this state well.
Kim has been amazing at finding new channels to fund our programs. She has paved the way for our school and our outreach programs through multiple sources: federal, state, local, universities, foundations, corporations, whatever it takes to keep the mission of the Governor's School moving forward. We focus all of our energy on where we are headed, playing our part in making a South Carolina the best state in the nation.
