Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University, a historically Black college and university based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a prime recipient of federal research and educational grants across 51 customer agencies, with no federal contract prime awardee activity. WSSU operates as a state government entity and educational institution, competing in full-and-open federal grant programs with no set-aside designations applied to its recent awards.

WSSU's federal portfolio consists almost entirely of prime grant awards (96% of 219 total awards) rather than subrecipient work, spanning research, workforce development, and institutional capacity-building in STEM education and life sciences. The National Science Foundation dominates the customer base by award count—49 NSF grants across its Division of Human Resource Development, STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076), Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083), and other divisions—followed by the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (23 awards) and the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (18 awards). Recent representative work includes a $496,376 NSF STEM Education grant (awarded September 2026) to develop modular AI security curriculum for public-sector workforce professionals in healthcare, education, and government; a $3.999 million Department of Housing and Urban Development Cooperative Agreement (awarded October 2024) to establish a national HBCU research center of excellence in rural housing and development; a $2.332 million Department of Education FUTURE ACT grant (October 2025) to strengthen institutional management and academic quality at the HBCU; a $400,000 NSF HBCU Undergraduate Program Targeted Infusion Project (August 2025) to infuse organic synthesis research and green chemistry into chemistry curriculum; and a $970,384 NSF Excellence in Research award (September 2023) investigating mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns in sterile inflammation.

WSSU's recent activity trajectory shows growth in grant capture, rising from six awards in 2022 to eighteen in 2024, though declining to seven in 2025 and five through September 2026. The combined potential value across all awards stands at $1.1 million, with obligated dollars running at $362.5 million across the portfolio, reflecting multi-year commitment depth. Thirteen awards with combined potential value of $296 thousand reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months. WSSU's STEM focus spans quantum information science and engineering (QISE), cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, biomedical imaging and environmental toxicology, organic chemistry synthesis, computer science education, educational equity research, and workforce development in rehabilitation counseling and STEM teaching pathways. The institution also serves as a subrecipient on research initiatives led by University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Michigan State University, and High Point University, contributing faculty leadership, student recruitment, curriculum development, and data collection to collaborative research projects in genomic data science, physical activity intervention research, and culturally embedded science education.