Top graduate and doctoral degree graduates are recognized during the 12th Annual Research Forum hosted by the USA Research Council. The awards presentation was part of a weeklong event that showcased the research, scholarly and creative projects of faculty and students. It featured more than 60 presentations from more than 20 academic departments. From left are Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Judy Stout, Outstanding Master's Thesis Award recipient Carol A. Ellis, Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award recipient Elizabeth Meztista Adams and Research Forum Chair Dr. Susan McCready, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures. Ellis, a longtime resident of Mobile, received both her bachelor's and master's degree in history from USA. The title of her thesis is "The Tragedy of the White Moderate: Father Albert Foley and Alabama Civil Rights, 1963-1967." Dr. Michael Thomason, professor of history, served as chair of her thesis committee. Adams, a native of Mobile, received her doctorate degree in communication sciences and disorders from USA. The title of her dissertation is "Effect of Noise on Judgement of Speech Rate and Performance on Speech Understanding Measures With and Without Simulated Hearing Loss." Her dissertation committee co-chairs were Dr. Paul Dagenais, chair of speech pathology and audiology, and Dr. Robert Moore, assistant professor of speech pathology and audiology.