WKU News

February 2, 2026 (Bowling Green, KY) — Tyler Clark, Ed.D., Assistant Director of Operations, has been accepted into the Spring 2026 Cohort of the Education Policy Fellowship Program™ (EPFP)), a nationally recognized leadership program administered by the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL).

EPFP is the founding program for IEL and, for over six decades, has developed a diverse and collaborative community of over 12,000+ strategic leaders to promote education policy. EPFP focuses on building policy, leadership, and systematic change in communities across the country (iel.org).

Applicants are selected based on their ability to clearly articulate goals for participating in the fellowship modules, contribute meaningfully to peer learning within the cohort, and demonstrate how they will support, sustain, and advance education policy goals in their home states. The fellowship concludes with the Washington Policy Seminar and Hill Day held in Washington, D.C.

“I have had the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Julia Roberts and other leaders in education policy to expand advanced coursework opportunities in Kentucky through House Bill 190,” said Clark. “This fellowship will further strengthen my ability to influence education policy decisions that support learners in Kentucky and beyond.”

Clark is Assistant Director of Operations at The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University and is Executive Administrator of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. He also teaches graduate courses in gifted education. Dr. Clark currently serves on the Leadership Development Committee for the National Association for Gifted Children and will assume the role of Chair of the Annual Fund Committee in the fall.

He is actively involved with the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education, providing support at the organization’s headquarters and during conferences and workshops. His research interests include honors and gifted education, leadership, talent development policy, creativity, social-emotional development, underrepresentation, and mathematics education. Dr. Clark presents at the state, national, and international levels and is co-editor, with Julia Link Roberts, of International Perspectives on Acceleration in Gifted Education.

For more information, contact Rebecca Clark at (270) 745-6323 or rebecca.clark@wku.edu.