The Dean’s Diversity Fellowship is designed to support exceptional incoming doctoral students with three years of funding. The Graduate School supports 15 fellows at a time, selecting five new fellows each year from a campus-wide pool.

Nominated by their programs and chosen by a Graduate School committee, fellows are pioneers in their fields exploring tough questions and conducting research to better the Detroit community and beyond.

Below is the 2022 cohort. All will begin their doctoral programs this fall.

Amber Anderson
Sociology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Anderson is a first-generation college student born and raised in Detroit. A McNair Scholar from Grand Valley State University, Anderson has conducted research on the correlations of social capital, race, and income on educational outcomes and seeks to continue that research in her doctoral studies. 

Jacquelyn Duckett
Psychology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Duckett earned a bachelor’s in psychology with a minor in law from Michigan State University. She received accolades such as the Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship and took part in the Psychology Scholars Program designed to prepare high-achieving students from underrepresented backgrounds for graduate studies. Highly committed to social justice for historically marginalized youth of color and their families, she aims to conduct research that ultimately reduces the prevalence of racism and discrimination. 

Chloe Leavings 
English
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Leavings comes with a master’s from North Carolina A&T University where she studied intersectional rhetorical performances and culturally relevant pedagogies. She will join the research team of Dr. Adrienne Jankens who is conducting an empirical study of the language and literacy practices students bring to the classroom and faculty response with the ultimate goal of developing antiracist language and practices for use in general education writing courses. 

Matthew Prifti
Pharmacology
School of Medicine

Prifti moved from Albania to the U.S. at the age of 17, finished high school and earned a bachelor’s in neuroscience at Wayne State University in 2021. He worked in Dr. Sokol Todi’s lab, co-authored two papers already published, and another two that will be submitted this year. He is eager to continue his doctoral studies in the Todi lab and aims to one day become a principal investigator with his own academic lab. 

Tierney Shaible 
Biological Sciences
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Shaible is a first-generation college student who earned a bachelor’s in biology with a double minor in chemistry and philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. She worked in a lab exploring plant-insect interactions–research that she went on to present at the university’s symposium, the Pennsylvania Academy of Science’s annual conference, and was ultimately published in a high-impact, peer-reviewed journal. The experience solidified her interest in research and continuing her higher education. She went on to earn a master’s from the University of Arizona and is motivated to one day run her own research lab, addressing questions about climate change and urban ecology.