After majoring in mathematics and electrical engineering at North Carolina A&T, Dr. Talia McCray was named to USA Today’s All-USA College Academic Team as one of the “The Best and the Brightest.” With an interest in urban communities, social patterns and resource access, she pursued her Ph.D. in urban technological and environmental planning from the University of Michigan. Her Ph.D. led her to rural South Africa to study prenatal care utilization patterns and writing her dissertation, Promoting the Journey to Health: Healthcare Access and Transportation in Rural South Africa; to Quebec City as a Ford Foundation post-doctoral fellow to study low-income women’s travel patterns; and finally to Providence, RI, to study low-income teenagers’ activity patterns and safety perceptions.

The University of Texas at Austin welcomed McCray’s expertise in January 2008 when she became a faculty member of the School of Architecture Community and Regional Planning Program. In 2013 as a Fulbright- Scotland visiting professor at Glasgow Urban Lab she explored and developed techniques that demonstrate the social and communal patterns of urban, public spaces. The University of Texas at Austin with the continued support of DDCE, has provided a platform for McCray’s ongoing exploration of transportation policy and planning, healthcare access and how the built environment affects public health, and sustainable transportation solutions for disadvantaged communities.