Putallaz named new TIP leader

After conducting a nationwide search, the University has chosen one of its own to take the reins of its Talent Identification Program.

Psychology professor Martha Putallaz will become TIP's fourth executive director July 1, leading a nationally renowned program that scouts and encourages talented students to optimize their educational potential. Last fall, more than 80,000 students participated in the program's 7th Grade Talent Search, and last summer more than 2,300 students from 40 states and 14 foreign countries attended TIP summer programs.

Judith Ruderman, vice provost for academic and administrative services and chair of the committee charged with finding TIP's next director, said Putallaz comes to the post with a solid base of knowledge about Duke and about TIP in particular--a quality that helped Putallaz emerge as a serious candidate.

"What made her stand out as a front-runner was this: her long knowledge of Duke and the TIP program [and] her articulation of a vision for TIP's future that included strengthening the research arm of TIP and better integrating it into the ongoing initiatives of the [Program in Education], the Center for Child and Family Policy and the psychology department," Ruderman wrote in an e-mail.

She noted that there are diverse research opportunities involving TIP, including studies on gifted education, intelligence, creativity and leadership. She added that research opportunities for students and faculty provide an avenue by which TIP can connect to other units on campus.

Putallaz, also director of undergraduate studies for the psychology department, specializes in research focusing on children's peer relationships and how that predicts outcomes later in life. Ruderman noted that Putallaz's research, though not specifically in education for gifted students, is in a related field.

"She has a great interest in childhood and young adult education and psychology and has a lot of enthusiasm for the job," Provost Peter Lange said. "So it's a combination of skill plus interest that qualifies her to take over."

Putallaz also serves on the advisory boards for the Program in Education and is a member of the Spencer Foundation Faculty, a group of interdisciplinary educational research scholars at Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She said she was particularly excited to become TIP's executive director for the opportunities it will afford her to "weigh in on policy issues that are related to gifted children."

Ruderman noted that Putallaz was not on the first list of candidates to take over the TIP directorship; in fact, she was originally a member of the search committee.

"After we hosted a disappointing candidate, someone else on the committee suggested that we might have had the right candidate in our midst the whole time," Ruderman wrote. "[Putallaz] was intrigued by the opportunity and decided to apply."

TIP was founded in 1980 by former Provost William Bevan, after whom the program's new home on Buchanan Boulevard will soon be named. The search for a new leader began after the program's previous executive director, Steven Pfeiffer, stepped down at the end of last summer. Scott Greenwood, TIP director of operations, has served as interim director.

"TIP has been an extremely strong unit at Duke since its inception," Ruderman wrote. "It is a premier player in the world of gifted education and has made a huge difference in countless lives through its excellently managed and very creative programs."

Ruderman said she expects Putallaz will be able to make an already strong staff even stronger. "She will forge linkages not only within the organization but within Duke as a whole," she wrote. "She is a very good facilitator and a person of the highest integrity, energy and dedication."