In her present capacity as a junior faculty member, she exemplifies the role of teacher and scholar through outstanding research, with a passion for integrating and motivating the educational process with real-world statistical applications. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Spelman College, master’s degrees in both mathematics (Howard University) and statistics (Rice University), and a doctorate in statistics from Rice University. Her professional experiences include research appointments at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the National Security Agency (NSA), and NASA. In addition to her academic accomplishments, Talithia is also a woman of faith; she is a member of Pomona First Baptist Church and resides in Southern California with her husband, Donald, and their sons, Josiah, Noah and Micaiah.