JULIA LINK ROBERTS is the Mahurin Professor of Gifted Studies and the Executive Director of The Center for Gifted Studies and the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky.  During the celebration of Western Kentucky University’s Centennial in 2006, Dr. Roberts was honored for her work by being named one of the one hundred gifts Western Kentucky University has given to the world.  She is an active advocate for gifted children at the state and national levels.  For her advocacy work, she received the very first David W. Belin Advocacy Award from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in 2001.  In Profiles of Influence in Gifted Education (Prufrock, 2004), Dr. Roberts was described as one of the fifty most influential people in the field of gifted education. Dr. Roberts is a leader in gifted education serving on the boards of the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education, the National Association for Gifted Children, and The Association for the Gifted (a division of the Council for Exceptional Children); and she is one of three elected delegates from the United States to the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children.  Dr. Roberts enjoys the opportunity to direct summer and Saturday programs for hundreds of young people, something she has done each year for more than twenty-five years.  She graduated from the University of Missouri and then earned a master’s degree and the Ed. D. at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Roberts is married to Dr. Richard Roberts.  They have two daughters, Stacy Moots and Julie Boggess; and they enjoy three granddaughters – Elizabeth, Caroline, and Claire.

TRACY FORD INMAN has devoted her career to meeting the needs of young people, especially those who are gifted and talented. She has taught on both the high school and collegiate levels as well as in summer programs for gifted and talented youth. This Who’s Who Among American Educators teacher was a Kentucky Teacher of the Year semifinalist in 1992. She now serves as Associate Director of The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU in Bowling Green, KY. Tracy has presented on the state, national, and international levels, trained hundreds of teachers in differentiation, published multiple articles, and serves as writer/editor for The Challenge, the award-winning newsmagazine for The Center for Gifted Studies. At WKU, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English graduating summa cum laude in 1986 as both Ogden Scholar and Scholar of Potter College. Her studies continued at WKU with a certification in Secondary Education in 1988, Masters of Arts in Education in 1992, and an Endorsement in Gifted Education in 2001. She is currently working on her Ed.D. as part of WKU's inaugural class. She and Julia Roberts have published two books through Prufrock Press: Strategies for Differentiating Instruction: Best Practices for the Classroom, now in its second edition, and Assessing Differentiated Student Products: A Protocol for Development and Evaluation. Tracy serves as the chair for the Advisory Committee for the National Association for Gifted Children's parenting magazine, Parenting for High Potential. This KAGE board member can be reached at 270.745.6323 or tracy.inman@wku.edu.

HARPER LEE holds degrees in journalism and theater from Miami University in Ohio and a MA in arts journalism from the The Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Harper taught English in two high schools in Japan. While in Japan, Harper was invited to present at a prefecture-wide conference on creativity in Japanese classrooms and worked with other teachers to plan an English day camp for high school students. At Newhouse, Harper was the graduate assistant in development, interned in media relations for the award-winning Syracuse Stage, and assistant taught both newswriting and graphic design courses for incoming masters students. Also an alumna of The Center, Harper attended Super Saturdays, SCATS, and VAMPY, and later returned to The Center as a camp counselor, teaching assistant, Super Saturdays instructor, and this summer taught her first VAMPY class.        

CAROLYN HAGAMAN joins The Center for Gifted Studies every summer to act as Coordinator of Summer Programs.  These programs (SCATS, VAMPY, AP, and Vertical Teams) involve several hundred participants. During the academic year Carolyn is a counselor for Student Support Services, one of several Federally funded programs collectively known as TRIO.  The mission of Student Support Services is to work with college students who come from low-income families or whose parents do not hold college degrees, providing various kinds of support which will help the students succeed academically and earn degrees. Carolyn’s undergraduate degree is from Cornell University.  She earned a master’s degree at the University of Denver and the Gifted Endorsement at Western Kentucky University.  In addition to summers with The Center for Gifted Studies, her work experience includes counseling and teaching at college, high school, and junior high levels.  Carolyn’s husband, John Hagaman, is a Professor in Western’s English department.  They have a son, Eric Hagaman, and a daughter and son-in-law, Gail and Stuart Mohr.  Their first grandchild, born in 2008, won’t be eligible for SCATS or VAMPY for quite a few years.

SALLY HOCKER joined the team at The Center for Gifted Studies after moving to Bowling Green from southern Indiana in February 2009. Previously, Sally worked at the University of Louisville in the Admissions Office and attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Outside of work, Sally enjoys spending time with her new husband David, their children, grandchildren, and friends.

DAVID BAXTER has taught 5th and 6th graders for ten years as well as college math education students.  He has experience with at-risk students both in summer enrichment camps and extended school services.  Completing a Gifted Endorsement this spring, David has presented at a state gifted conference.  Although he specializes in math, David has taught science for years and organized extracurricular science activities.  

 
ALLISON BEMISS, an elementary teacher for five years, has a Masters of Arts in education and a Gifted Endorsement.  In addition to her experience as a Title 1 teacher working with at-risk students, she has taught Saturday enrichment classes for the gifted.  This team leader for the regional Math Alliance Learning Team is also the practitioner/presenter for Green River Regional Educational Cooperative Math Alliance, a three-year math initiative.