In November 2010 I received the National Communication Association's Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award in San Francisco, California. The Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Awards program recognizes new scholars who have recently completed their dissertations.

Receiving this award was a true honor and a great way to begin a career in writing. It was especially wonderful to be supported by Harry Guillermo, Deborah Hanan, Terry Nance, Randy Lake, and my colleagues and friends at USC Annenberg, CSU Fullerton and Brown. Mostly, it was humbling to be surrounded by so many scholars whose work makes important contributions to the discipline of communication.

I'm pleased to report that my award-winning dissertation is now my book manuscript, Things Said in Passing: Understanding Racial Passing from a Rhetorical Perspective, and that it's due to be published in 2011 by Baylor University Press. I am deeply grateful to the National Communication Association for its support and recognition. Who knows? Maybe book of the year for 2012? Fingers crossed...