The education department, in collaboration with the Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities, is pleased to welcome Associate Professor, Jennifer Mata-McMahon, Ed.D. Dr. Mata-McMahon graduated from Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela with a BA in Early Childhood Education with emphasis in Educational Leadership and Administration. She received her MA, EdM, and EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her graduate work was also in the field of Early Childhood Education with an emphasis in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. Since 1995, Dr. Mata-McMahon has been an infant, toddler, preschool, and kindergarten teacher, as well as taught in middle school, undergraduate and graduate levels, both in the US and abroad. Dr. Mata-McMahon has also offered ample professional development to teachers and professors in public and private settings, as well as conducted program evaluations for non-profit educational organizations in India, New York, and Illinois. She is the coauthor of Ambiente en Acción (Environment in Action) (2006), author of Spiritual Experiences in Early Childhood Education (2015), and coeditor of Spirituality: An Interdisciplinary View (2016), as well as the author and coauthor of several book chapters and journal articles. In addition to her professional responsibilities in the education department’s early childhood program, Dr. Mata-Mahon will conduct school-based research and provide professional development to early childhood educators through her joint-appointment with the Sherman Center (https://shermancenter.umbc.edu/).