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CHICAGO - As part of the Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship Program: Building Change, a diversity recruitment program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Spectrum Scholarship Program is pleased to partner with six doctoral degree programs to support a new cohort of Spectrum Doctoral Fellows.

Spectrum Doctoral Fellowships have been awarded to RaShauna Brannon at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; LaVerne Gray at the University of Tennessee Knoxville; Miraida Morales at Rutgers University; Myrna Morales at Simmons College; Mario Ramirez at the University of California – Los Angeles; and Elnora Tayag at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More information about each Fellow can be found at .

The Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship Program: Building Change seeks to reinforce and expand efforts to recruit racially and ethnically diverse individuals to the LIS professorate. According to the Association for Library and Information Science Education’s (ALISE) “Library and Information Science Statistical Report 2009,” ethnic minorities (American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander) account for just over 10 percent (5 of 46) of LIS Deans and Directors and 24 percent (153 of 645) of full-time Professors, Associate Professors, or Assistant Professors.

The selected Spectrum Doctoral Fellows receive full tuition support and stipends for two years beginning in Fall 2013 through funding from the IMLS; support for participation in professional conferences where they can share their research; and participation in two Spectrum Doctoral Fellows Institutes to prepare for their doctoral studies and dissertation work. Participating academic programs provide tuition and stipends for Spectrum Doctoral Fellows’ remaining years of study after the first two years.

The Fellows were selected by a distinguished jury including Dr. Nicole A. Cooke, 2008 Spectrum Doctoral Fellow and assistant professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen, assistant professor of Library and Information Science at St. Catherine University; Deana Greenfield, assistant professor at National Louis University; Dr. Ruth Jackson, former University Librarian at the University of California, Riverside; and Dr. J. Brenton Stewart, 2007 Spectrum Doctoral Fellow and assistant professor at the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit .

In 2006, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, the ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵ (ALA) launched the Leaders Wanted: Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship Program and oversaw the recruitment of twelve doctoral candidates. Under the current Building Change project, ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵcontinues its efforts and is partnering with participating academic programs to support six doctoral fellows in the attainment of their degree. To learn more about the Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship Program, visit .