Leadership Team
Executive Director, Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development
Todd Kettler, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology in the School of Education at Baylor University. He teaches courses in gifted education and talent development, creativity, and the history and systems of psychology with educational applications.Dr. Kettler conducts research on access to advanced academic learning opportunities in schools and studies the features of learning designs that support outcomes of exceptional performance, including the development of critical thinking and creative capacity. His book, Modern Curriculum for Gifted and Advanced Academic Students (Prufrock Press, 2016) won the Legacy Award for the best scholarly book in the field of gifted education in the United States in 2016. That text articulated Kettler’s four-level approach to elite talent development in academic domains. His book Developing Creativity in the Classroom: Learning and Innovation in 21st Century Schools (Prufrock Press, 2019) explores systematic development of creative capacity in learning organizations. Kettler’s research has appeared in the leading journals in the fields of gifted educational and creativity including: Gifted Child Quarterly, Journal of Advanced Academics, Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Creativity Research Journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Creativity Research Journal, and Thinking Skills and Creativity. Currently Dr. Kettler serves as editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics, and he is the chair of the Texas Commissioner of Education’s Advisory Council for Gifted Education in Texas. He is actively involved in the American Educational Research Association and the National Association of Gifted Children. He began his professional journey as a middle school and high school English teacher and spent more than a decade designing and leading advanced academic programs in public schools in Texas.
Director of Pre-Collegiate Programs
Cheryl Taliaferro, Ph.D., is the Director of Pre-Collegiate Programs in the Baylor Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, where she leads, develops, operates, and evaluates programs for students in grades 1 through 12. With more than 25 years of teaching and administrative experience in a variety of public and private educational settings, Dr. Taliaferro is passionate about working with students and their families as they navigate educational landscapes that were not always created with their needs in mind. She currently serves on the Board of the Gifted Education Family Network of Texas as the Vice Chair of Advocacy. Prior to joining Baylor, she helped develop and lead a public school-within-a-school for highly gifted students in grades 1-12 in the DFW area. In recognition of that work, she received the National Association for Gifted Children’s Gifted Coordinator Award in 2022 and the Sherry Hamilton Memorial Gifted Education Award in 2023. She also worked for several years as an Academic Coordinator for Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP), leading summer programming at sites in both Texas and North Carolina. Dr. Taliaferro received her bachelor's degree in political philosophy from the University of Dallas, her master's degree in reading from Texas Woman’s University, and her doctorate in reading with a minor in anthropology from the University of North Texas. She is certified to teach English, social studies, gifted education, and English as a second language in Texas, Tennessee, and New Mexico, and she is actively involved with the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented and the National Association for Gifted Children.
Director of Baylor DECATS
An educator for 27 years, Angela Harris has experience working with gifted students in elementary and secondary schools in various roles, including teacher, test administrator, and Gifted and Talented Coordinator. As the Director for DECATS at Baylor, she supports curriculum development and program design for gifted students. Angela has a B.A. in English/Education from the University of Texas at Arlington and an M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University. She is certified to teach both English and gifted education.
Administrative Assistant
Sameera Herath, MBA, currently holds the position of Administrative Assistant at the Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development in the School of Education. She works closely with both the Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development and the Director of Pre-Collegiate Programs. In her capacity as an administrative assistant, she executes various office tasks, manages schedules, coordinates meetings, and assists families with student registration.
(appointments)