The Thoyd Melton Award was established to recognize an outstanding oral presentation by a graduate student. At the time of his premature death on Nov. 22, 2000, Thoyd Melton was Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean of graduate studies at N.C. A&T State University. Prior to this position, Dr. Melton was a member of NC State University's Department of Microbiology and an Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Melton was very active in research and particularly in graduate education. In 1999, he received the William A. Hinton Research Training Award from ASM. This award honors an individual who has made significant contributions toward fostering the research training of underrepresented minorities in microbiology.

Those of us who knew Thoyd have no trouble remembering him. Thoyd loved scientific problems and was renowned for his questioning of seminar speakers. His questions, while never barbed, were incisive and driven by a conviction that outstanding problems and inconsistencies in the project being described could be solved--right then and there. He could also deduce (and want to discuss) exciting implications of a project. With Thoyd in the audience, a student presenter would always come away with some new ideas.

It is in this spirit that the NC ASM branch offers the Thoyd Melton Award for an outstanding graduate student presentation.