Dr. Gilbert received her PhD with a focus on geographic clusters, technology entrepreneurship, and new venture performance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. In 2004, Dr. Gilbert received a Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship for her research, and she later became a finalist for the Heizer Award for outstanding dissertations in entrepreneurship. In 2008, Dr. Gilbert was appointed as an advisory committee member to the Texas Emerging Technology Fund for her expertise on clusters and technology entrepreneurship. Dr. Gilbert is the only African American ever selected as a Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellow, a fellowship awarded to rising entrepreneur scholars.