Diana Sharp is a book lover whose interests in reading and education have led her into the complementary careers of research, consulting, and writing. Venturing first into academia, she received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology when the field was first exploring how computers could uncover the mental processes that people use when they read. She next joined the research faculty of Peabody College at Vanderbilt University as the director and co-founder of the Young Children's Literacy Project, at what soon became the world-renowned Learning Technology Center.

Diana spent thirteen years at the Learning Technology Center, leading research efforts that examined the promises and pitfalls of technology for helping young children - particularly those at-risk of school failure - to become skilled, motivated readers. Her work received major grants from the National Science Foundation, the U. S. Department of Education, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Office of Special Education, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. As part of her research, Diana led the development of the Little Planet Literacy Series, a nationally award-winning multimedia program for K - 3, now published by Sunburst as The Ribbit Collection, The Glowbird Collection, The Dugout Collection, and Thinking Out Loud. She also wrote over 40 of the books in that series.

As she became increasingly convinced that literacy habits are as important as literacy skills, Diana began writing tips for parents on how to support their children's literacy. These tips became part of the scripts for the published video series, Take Me To Your Readers. Diana was also the Principal Investigator of the Take Me To Your Readers project, which was funded as part of the prestigious Interagency Educational Research Initiative, a federal multi-agency effort aimed at scaling up promising interventions. A popular speaker, Diana was invited by the American Psychological Association to present at a 1999 Congressional briefing, and she was one of only thirteen research groups invited to speak at the 2004 International Reading Association's Reading Research Conference.

In 2003, Diana started her own consulting company for educational leaders. She specializes in literacy and technology and enjoys crossing the boundaries between academic research institutions, commercial education companies, and schools. Her work spans from East Coast to West Coast and includes such clients as Wireless Generation (New York), the University of Chicago's Center for Urban School Improvement, and Microsoft.

Recently, Diana served as the children’s reading specialist on the team that developed ItzaBitza, a software game for young readers and winner of numerous industry awards. Diana blogs regularly at the ItzaBitza site with advice for parents and teachers about reading development. As the "Tampa Reading Examiner," she also writes articles for Examiner.com, searching for ways to help Florida families read more, laugh more, and live better.

Diana lived in Nashville, Tennessee for twenty years and still considers the place a second home. In 2006, she and her family left their historic urban neighborhood and moved to a conservation community in Florida with alligators, bobcats, armadillos, herons, egrets, and an ice cream store down the block.

A PDF version of her Vitae can be accessed by clicking here.