WKU News

August 19, 2025 – Dr. Julia Link Roberts and Dr. Tyler Clark presented at the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC) conference in Braga, Portugal. The conference was held from July 29 to August 2 and was the first in-person conference since 2019.

The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children hosted 450 attendees from 57 countries. To kick off the event, Roberts presented a preconference workshop with colleague Mojca Juriševič, University of Ljubljana, on “Planning for Growth: Gifted Programming Design and Evaluation to Teach for Talent Development.” Clark also presented a preconference workshop titled “The Power of AI in Transforming Gifted Education, Talent Development, and Creativity.”

 “Meeting with colleagues from around the world is a privilege not often available,” Roberts said. “The conference was outstanding.”

Each day of the conference featured parallel sessions, panel discussions, post presentations, and roundtable discussions. In addition to the preconference sessions, Roberts was featured on the panel, “Creativity in Gifted Education: The Perspective of Specialists from Czech Republic, Brazil, and the United States,” and led a practice-based parallel session titled “Global Principles Supports Changes.”

Clark serves as Executive Administrator on the WCGTC Executive Committee and his responsibilities for the 2025 World Conference included organization of the conference, speakers, marketing, and communications. In addition to his preconference workshop, Clark also appeared on a panel discussing “Gifted Intelligence Meets Artificial Intelligence: Global Innovations in Education.” Along with his presentations, Clark was honored with the Emerging Leader in Gifted Education Award at the conference. Read more about this award here.

“It was inspiring to see people from so many cultures coming together to share and learn new ideas about serving gifted and talented students,” said Clark. “The World Conference provides such a unique opportunity to showcase these diverse perspectives.”

About Tyler Clark
Tyler Clark, Ed.D., is the Assistant Director of Operations at The Center for Gifted Studies and the Executive Administrator at 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. Dr. Clark is also active in the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education, providing volunteer support including in the headquarters and during conferences and workshops. His research interests include topics in higher education, specifically related to honors education, leadership, gifted education, and talent development, specifically policy, creativity, social-emotional aspects, and underrepresentation issues; and mathematics education. He presents at the state, national, and international levels. With Julia Link Roberts, he is the co-editor of International Perspectives on Acceleration in Gifted Education.

About Julia Link Roberts
Dr. Roberts is the Executive Director of The Center for Gifted Studies and The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science. She is a member of the faculty at the School of Teacher Education, and she is a WKU Distinguished Professor. Dr. Roberts serves on the boards of The Association for The Gifted (a division of the Council for Exceptional Children), the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education, and Aviation Heritage Park and Museum. She is a past president of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. With Tyler Clark, she is the co-editor of International Perspectives on Acceleration in Gifted Education.

About The Center for Gifted Studies
Located on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green, Kentucky, The Center for Gifted Studies has been serving children who are gifted and talented, their educators, and their parents for more than 40 years. The Center provides exciting educational opportunities for gifted young people, rigorous professional development for teachers and support for parents of gifted young people. Under the direction of Dr. Julia Roberts, The Center has become one of the preeminent advocates for gifted education in the United States.

Contact: Tyler Clark (270) 745-6323 or Thomas.clark@wku.edu