Dr. Kimberly A. Truong ’01 receives Recognition of Merit award

Study illuminates racialized experiences of doctoral students

Dr. Kimberly A. Truong ’01 stands with her advisor Shaun R. Harper at the University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Kimberly A. Truong is a recipient of the Recognition of Merit award in the 2010-2011 Phi Delta Kappa International Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award program. Her dissertation is titled: "Racism and Racial Trauma in Doctoral Study: How Students of Color Experience and Negotiate the Political Complexities of Racist Encounters."

The dissertation award is a prestigious honor that PDK International, a global association of educators, gives each year to an individual who has written a dissertation that not only makes a major contribution to education research but also demonstrates sound, rigorous research methods.


In addition to the main award, three individuals who were in close competition receive Recognition of Merit. Dr. Truong was one of these individuals.

"We were very impressed with Dr. Truong's dissertation, and are thrilled to acknowledge her in this way," says Ashley Kincaid, director of marketing and communications for PDK International Family of Associations.

Truong says that she is thankful for the years that she spent at Brandeis as an undergraduate and that she has treasured all of the opportunities she has been afforded.

"This study illuminates our understanding of the racialized experiences of doctoral students of color, an often ignored and understudied population in the education literature, but a population that demands further attention and additional support," says Truong.

In addition to being recognized for the PDK dissertation award, Truong was also a finalist in two other dissertation awards:

• 2010 Association for the Study of Higher Education Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award Finalist (1 of 4 finalists)
• 2010 Society for Community Research and Action; Community Psychology, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association: Emory L. Cowen Dissertation Award for the Promotion of Wellness Finalist (1 of 2 finalists; award recipient not yet announced)

Having grown up in public housing and being the first in her family to graduate from high school, Truong said that she felt doctoral studies was out of reach until people like Robert J. Maeda, Lesola Morgan and Kim Godsoe provided her immense support and encouraged her to pursue graduate studies.