Trena L. Wilkerson, Ph.D., is a Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and currently interim chair. She received her Ph.D. in 1994 from the University of Southern Mississippi in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus in mathematics.

Dr. Wilkerson serves as immediate past-president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and on its Board of Directors. After election by the full membership of more than 30,000 members, she took office as president in April of 2020 for a two-year term completing in 2022. She served as a member of the NCTM Board of Directors from 2014 - 2017 and then as president-elect and now as past-president. In 2021 she received the Prakken Professional Cooperation Award from International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) for promoting the field of technology and engineering education in collaboration with other disciplines and in 2020 received the NCTM Publication Award for Outstanding Journal as Editor of the Texas Mathematics Teacher. In 2018 she received the Association of Mathematics Teacher Education-Texas (AMTE-TX) Outstanding Service Award for significant contributions to the field of mathematics teacher education. In 2016 she received the Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ E. Glenadine Gibb Achievement Award for her contribution to the improvement of mathematics education at the state and national level. She has served on the Association of Mathematics Teachers Educators Board and in leadership roles in state and local mathematics education professional organizations. She was the editor for the Texas Math Teacher, journal of the Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 2017-2020. In October 2019 she received the Mississippi College Department of Mathematics Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award.

Dr. Wilkerson was also a co-recipient of the Award for Excellence in Integrating Science and Mathematics from School Science Mathematics Association (SSMA) for her role as Director of the GEAR UP Math Initiative and Co-Principal Investigator of the GEAR UP Waco grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Baylor and the School of Education were involved in the GEAR UP project from 1999 to 2013. The second phase of that project (2006 – 2013) provided $11.3 million in grant funds. GEAR UP stands for “Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs” and prepared students for higher education beginning in middle school.

Her research interests include mathematics education, teacher education, algebra teacher efficacy, teaching and learning of mathematics, and professional development. She is interested in effective teaching of mathematics and its impact on student learning. She has conducted research in early childhood understanding of rational number concepts, worked with a cross-university collaborative to develop an instrument to measure algebra teacher efficacy, and studied the effect of professional development on mathematics teachers and their students through Lesson Study. She has published in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, Investigations in Mathematics Learning, Journal of Advanced Academics, Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Teaching in PK-12, The Mathematics Teacher, School Science and Mathematics Journal, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, and Teaching Children Mathematics.