Elizabeth Cook, doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and the 2016 - 2017 Gaye Theresa Johnson African American Studies Doctoral Fellow, was selected to receive the 2016 American Educational Studies Association (AESA) – Taylor & Francis Past President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Dissertation Research. Nominated by Dr. Theodorea Berry, Cook's application was chosen from a national applicant pool and her writing has demonstrated exceptional potential in the area of educational studies. Additionally, her research paper was also selected and highlighted as the 'Reviewer's Choice' Critical Race Studies and Women in Education presentation this year and is based on her dissertation titled, "Black Faces in Brown Spaces: Black Women Graduate Students in Hispanic Serving Institutions in the South." (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cook)