J. William (Bill) Whitlow, PhD (Professor of Psychology) has been selected as a 2002 Dr. Charles Brimm Medical Arts High School Special Service Leader. The Dr. Charles E. Brimm Medical Arts High School was established in 1994 and is named after Dr. Charles Brimm, an African-American physican and long-time resident of and practitioner in Camden. The school focuses on providing students with a full range of experiences related to health careers.

Above: The Phildadelphia Inquirer

J. W. (Bill) Whitlow, Jr., is a Professor of Psychology, whose research interests focus on understanding basic mechanisms of learning, memory, and cognition. These interests also channel his commitment to enhancing science education, especially among pre-college youth.

He established the Science Preparation Alliance of Rutgers and Camden (SPARC) in an effort to increase the appeal and apparent usefulness of scientific, mathematical and technical knowledge and skills for pre-college students, especially students with little or no exposure to professional mentors. As a general strategy, SPARC seeks to increase scientific literacy within pre-college “communities of learning” (students, their teachers, and their caregivers) with regard to the biological, behavioral, and cognitive (BBC) sciences and to show how these sciences address issues of immediate concern and relevance to the lives of pre-college youth.
To achieve its general objective, SPARC has undertaken various projects, ranging from hosting one-day workshops as well as summer training institutes for teachers, to creating research mentoring programs for students, to sponsoring the Allied Health Sciences Expo. The Expo is a day-long event at which representatives from hospitals, colleges, counseling programs, health-related businesses and research institutions in the area present “hands-on” demonstrations and exhibits about career opportunities in the allied health sciences. The Expo is directed to 8th grade students in Camden and is timed to allow them to consider applying to the Medical Arts High School. He founded the SPARC program in 1991 and also established and currently directs the Forum for Education in Neuroscience and Cognition (FENAC).

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