Athens, Ga. – Six graduate students in the University of Georgia College of Education have received Doctoral Scholars Fellowships from the Southern Regional Education Board.
An awardee must be in the first year of a Ph.D. program and a member of a racial or ethnic minority who plans to become a full-time college or university faculty member after earning a doctorate.
The award offers three years of direct program support and two years of institutional support from the scholar’s college, university and/or department, with a $15,000-$20,000 annual stipend. Each recipient also is awarded up to five years of university-covered tuition and fees. In addition, the award provides professional development support and covers expenses associated with attending the annual Compact for Faculty Diversity Institute on Teaching and Mentoring.
A brief profile of each recipient is below.
Beryl Bray,a native of Ghana, West Africa, has lived in Pennsylvania and Georgia for the past 10 years and is a doctoral student in educational psychology with a concentration in applied cognition and development. Her major professor is Martha Carr. Bray currently is a graduate assistant in the UGA Graduate School’s outreach and diversity office and a doctoral intern at the University System of Georgia Board of Regents in Atlanta. She also served as an adjunct instructor in early childhood care and education at DeKalb Technical College. She previously was a teaching assistant at Pennsylvania State and Clarion universities. She received her master’s degree in educational psychology from UGA and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clarion University.
Monica Coleman, of McDonough, is a graduate student in counseling and student personnel services at the UGA Gwinnett campus and a school counselor in Henry County. Her major professor is Anneliese Singh. Coleman has been a school counselor at Dutchtown Elementary School for the past five years and is a licensed professional counselor. Previously, she was a school counselor at Luella Middle School for three years and began her career as a special education teacher. Coleman received her master’s and educational specialist degrees in counseling from Florida State University. She earned her B.S. in Interrelated Special Education from Alabama A&M University.
Albert Jimenez, of Augusta, is a graduate student in educational psychology with an emphasis on research, evaluation, measurement and statistics. His major professor is Karen Samuelsen. Jimenez currently isa Goizueta Foundation Research Assistant in the UGA Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education. He previously worked as a mathematics teacher at Clarke Central High School in Athens for five years before pursuing his doctorate. Jimenez has a master’s degree in sociology from Mississippi State University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Augusta State University.
Christopher Johnson,of Altamonte Springs, Fla.,is a graduate studentin educational psychology with an emphasis on applied cognition and development. His major professor is Louis Castenell. Johnson was a graduate assistant for the UGA Office of Institutional Diversity for the past year. He received his master’s degree in educational psychology from UGA and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Florida A&M University. Before coming to UGA to seek his master’s degree, Johnson taught first grade ESOL in Gainesville, Ga.
Tennille Lasker-Scott, of Conway, Ark., is a graduate student in adult education. Her major professor is Juanita Johnson-Bailey. She serves as a graduate research assistant for the Institute forContinuing Judicial Education of Georgia, a resource consortium of the Georgia Judicial Branch, the State Bar of Georgia, and the four American Bar Association-accredited law schools of the state (Emory, Georgia State, Mercer and UGA).She previously worked as a project manager for theArkansas Department of Community Correction. Lasker-Scott received her master’s degree in adult education and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in human resourcemanagement, both from the University of Arkansas atLittle Rock.
D. Michelle Thomas, of Savannah, is a graduate student in educational psychology with a concentration in applied cognition and development. Her major professor is Louis Castenell. Thomas was a fourth grade special education teacher in Chatham County Schools in Savannah before returning to school to pursue her doctorate. Previously, she served in corporate sales with Bank of America, UPS and Concentra Medical Services. She received her master’s degree in school psychology from Georgia Southern University and her bachelor’s degree in consumer economics from UGA.