Cheryl Taliaferro, Ph.D.
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, 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 gifted students and their families as they seek advanced opportunities for educational growth. A long-standing member of the Gifted Education Family Network of Texas (GEFN) and its past Vice Chair of Advocacy, she currently serves as GEFN's President and Chair of the Board. She is also a member of the Texas Education Commissioner's Advisory Council on the Education of Gifted and Talented Students.
Prior to joining Baylor, Dr. Taliaferro helped develop and lead a public academy 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.