The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)-State Doctoral Scholars Program was created in 1993 to address the long-standing national shortage of underrepresented minority faculty. Its mission is to increase faculty diversity in the region’s colleges and universities by providing a comprehensive package of support to increase the number of minority scholars who earn a Ph.D. and seek careers as faculty members. The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program provides minority doctoral students who have been admitted to programs of study on their own merits with financial support, leadership opportunities, networking events, and intensive professional development to help them finish their degrees and consider a career in academia. Chad Simmons, Ph.D. student in Dr. Alissa Armstrong's lab, was just selected as an SREB Doctoral Scholar. Chad's research focuses on investigating the role of adipocyte amino acid transporters in oogenesis and adipocyte morphology. Congrats Chad!