Ellen Wartella is Al-Thani Professor of Communication, professor of psychology, professor of human development and social policy, professor of medical social sciences, and director of the Center on Media and Human Development at Northwestern University. She is a leading scholar of the role of media in children’s development and serves on a variety of national and international boards and committees on children’s issues. She has published widely in communication and psychology journals on children’s media issues. Dr. Wartella earned her PhD in mass communication from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and completed her postdoctoral research in developmental psychology in 1981 at the University of Kansas. She was dean of the College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin from 1993 to 2004 and executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California at Riverside from 2004 to 2009. Before joining the faculty at Northwestern in March 2010 she was distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California at Riverside. Dr. Wartella currently serves on the board of the World Summit Foundation, the academic advisory board of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the advisory board of the Rudd Center on Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity, the board of advisors of the Children and Screens Foundation, the Health and Wellness Council of the Consumer Goods Forum, and the board of trustees of the Public Good Projects. She has served on a variety of National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine’s study committees including the Board on Children, Youth and Families and Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity. She received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Saint Vincent College. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Research in Child Development, National Communication Association and is past president of the International Communication Association.