Melinda Cowart began her career in bilingual education in 1975, having taught in both bilingual and ESL settings. Currently, she is a Professor of Bilingual/ ESL teacher education within the Teacher Education Program at Texas Woman’s University. She and her husband, Ron Cowart, have worked extensively with refugee youth and adults. Her research interests include the consequences of language loss, the effective, equitable education for linguistically and ethnically diverse students, and the appropriate preparation of teachers who will be teaching diverse populations. In 2015, Dr. Cowart was selected to participate in the nationally recognized OpEd Project as a Public Voices Fellow. Currently, Dr. Cowart is Series Editor for monographs on issues affecting English language learners and their teachers. In 2018, Dr. Cowart was named Editor of the International Academic Forum (IAFOR) Journal of Language Learning.