Left to Right, 11 of the Talented 12 and one graduate of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction: Hope Crenshaw, Angela Slates, Gianna Baker, Chanee Anderson, Lydiah Kiramba (CI), Regina Sierra Carter, Mia Lavizzo, Sammer Saleh-Jones, Danielle Colleen Forbes, Kimberly Watson, Tiffany Puckett, and Tamara Lynette Hoff

This year, 12 African American women earned their doctorates in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership (EPOL) at the University of Illinois. They are being called “The Talented 12” and they are among the 21 African Americans and 11 Latino/a students to earn doctorates in the College of Education this year. Of the 12, the Graduate College is proud to say that seven of these remarkable women participated in the university’s Summer Pre-Doctoral Institute (SPI), a program designed to provide incoming graduate students from U.S. populations underrepresented in graduate programs on our campus with an early introduction to graduate study at Illinois and an opportunity to work with a summer research advisor in their department.

Dr. Christopher M. Span, the associate dean for academic programs and an associate professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership, wrote about the accomplishments of these new doctoral graduates and of department and college that helped them thrive. You can read the rest of the feature on The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education website.