Ronda C. Talley, PhD, MPH was appointed in 2010 as inaugural Executive Director of the Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex at Western Kentucky University where she also holds the rank of Professor of Psychology. Prior to her appointment at WKU, Dr. Talley served served as Health Scientist and Associate Director for Planning, Evaluation, and Legislation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2005-2010. Dr. Talley worked in CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and the National Center on Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. She was recruited to CDC to provide expertise in caregiving as a national public health issue.

Prior to her work at CDC, Dr. Talley was Professor and Executive Director of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. She worked with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter for five years, from 2000-2005. Concurrently, she served as the Executive Director of the Washington, DC-based National Quality Caregiving Coalition of the Rosalynn Carter Institute.

Prior to her stint working with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Dr. Talley served her profession as Assistant Executive Director of Education and Director of Policy and Advocacy in the Schools at the American Psychological Association. She was the Founding Director of the APA's Center for Psychology in Schools and Education. While at APA, Dr. Talley also founded the Institute for Psychology in Schools, which recently celebrated its 14th birthday. Ronda's organizational work in psychology started early; as a doctoral student in school psychology at Indiana University, she founded the APA's school psychology student group, Student Affiliates in School Psychology (SASP), which celebrated its 33th anniversary this year.

Dr. Talley began her career as an early childhood education teacher, teaching kindergarten and first grade children. She taught special education classes for four years and served for 14 years as a school psychologist and director of psychological services and special education in the 17th largest school district in the United States. Ronda is a licensed psychologist (health) and had a private practice for a number of years.

Dr. Talley serves on the Board of Visitors for the Indiana University School of Education and the Western Kentucky University National Alumni Association Board of Directors. She is the recipient of the Indiana University Distinguished Alumni Award, the Jack Bardon Distinguished Service Award, and the Kentucky Association of School Administrators Distinguished Service Award. Ronda has over 70 publications and presentations, with research interests in caregiving, children's mental health, education, and public policy. Ronda especially enjoys organizational development.

Dr. Talley is editor-in-chief of a caregiving book series, Caregiving: Research, Policy, and Practice, published by Springer.