Roni Cohen Leiderman, Ph.D. is an educator, author, speaker and consultant in the fields of child development, family relationships, work/family issues, parenting, and autism. She currently serves as the Dean of the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). For more than twenty-five years, her career has been dedicated to the creation and establishment of programs focusing on the development of young children, persons with autism, and the training of professionals in the field. Under her leadership, the Institute has grown to be one of the nation’s largest multidisciplinary demonstration and training centers for education and research. Dr. Leiderman earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Education, graduating Magna Cum Laude, from Boston University; her Master’s of Science Degree in Education from Lesley College; and her Doctoral Degree in Developmental Psychology from NSU. She serves as a clinical professor in NSU’s Health Professions Division, College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and is a visiting faculty member for NSU’s Department of Pediatric Dentistry in the College of Dental Medicine. As a member of the NSU Community Outreach Task Force, she works to support the identification and documentation of the university’s partnership and engagement programs in the community. Dr. Leiderman is also a licensed Supreme Court Family Mediator for the State of Florida. Dr. Leiderman is regularly featured in local and national media, including appearances on television and radio news shows and in educational videos and DVD’s. She appeared on the NBC Today Show as a child development expert, was an on-air expert and consultant for the Teach More/Love More video series with Dr. T. Berry Brazelton; developed and wrote the PBS television show Express Yourself; and contributed to the Rob Reiner produced I Am Your Child series for parents of children with special needs. A noted author, Dr. Leiderman is the editor of Baby Play, 365 Activities You and Your Baby Will Love; 365 Activities You and Your Toddler Will Love-Fun Ideas for YourChild’s Growing Mind; 365 Activities You and Your Child Will Love-Fun Ideas for Your Preschooler’s Growing Mind; The Parent’s Guide to Play; Play and Learn—1001 Fun Activities for Your Baby and Child; the associate author of In Time and with Love: Caring for the Special Needs Baby and a contributing editor to Beyond the Golden Rule, published in association with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dr. Leiderman has written monthly parenting columns for South Florida Parenting Magazine, a publication of the Tribune Company, and contributes regularly to national periodicals and online publications. Dr. Leiderman and her team of professionals conduct research in the areas of emergent literacy, early intervention, autism, parenting, curriculum and professional development. A sought after expert, Dr. Leiderman is the lead advisor and on air professional on the Obesity Education Campaign series, funded through a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. She is also a member of the expert advisory board for the Early Moments Matter Toolkit, of the Relationship Research Institute, is on the advisory board of Children’s Health Magazine, and participates as a member of the medical advisory board for BabyCenter.com, a Johnson & Johnson-owned company. Dr. Leiderman’s interest in persons with diminished vision led to her establishing Friends of Vision for the National Keratoconus Foundation. She currently serves on the boards of directors for the Discovery Eye Foundation at the University of California, Irvine, and the Unicorn Children’s Foundation for children with learning, communication and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Leiderman has served on the board of directors of the Jack and Jill Children’s Center for which she was the program committee chairperson, the United Way’s Allocation Committee, the board of directors of the National Parenting Education Network, and she was a co-founder and a former board member of Gilda’s Club South Florida, an organization dedicated to providing free psychosocial support to persons experiencing cancer and their families and friends. Recognized by leading organizations dedicated to children and families, Dr. Leiderman received the Weitzmann Foundation’s Woman of Vision Award for Science and Research; the Crystal Communicator Award for excellence in children’s television programming, the Price Waterhouse and South Florida Magazine’s Up and Comer’s Award in education, and was the recipient of the Arnold Melnick Child Advocate Award. For additional information please contact Dr. Leiderman at roni@nova.edu or (954) 262-6930.