Profile

Dr. Judit Szente is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Central Florida. She received her graduate degrees from the University at Buffalo in Early Childhood/Elementary Education -adding to her B.A. degree in Elementary Education and English as a Second Language. Dr. Szente served as a preschool teacher educating 3- to 5-year-olds from over 10 different countries. She also taught at the upper early childhood level and worked with economically disadvantaged students in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Szente has participated in international teaching/learning programs in Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and the United States, and completed the United Nations Summer Study program. At UCF, she co-directed short-term study abroad programs to England, Finland, and Italy. She edited/co-edited three books, seventeen refereed journal issues, and published extensively in a variety of professional journals. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education and an Editorial Board Member of the Educating the Young Child: Advances in Theory and Research, Implications for Practice. She served as a United Nations Representative of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) from 2007-2014 and is currently a United Nations Representative of the Hungary-based Parents' House Public Benefit Foundation.

Ph.D. in Elementary Education
State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, 2001

• Global issues in early childhood and early childhood teacher education
• Education of children in disaster

• Refugee children
• Working with children caught in disasters
• Teacher education

• 20-Year-Service to the University of Central Florida (2025)
• Scroll & Quill Society, University of Central Florida (2019)
• Teaching Incentive Awards Program (2017), UCF College of Education and Human Performance
• UCF Women's History Month Honoree (2017), The UCF Center for Success of Women Faculty
• LIFE@ UCF Award for Women Faculty (2016), Awarded for UCF women excelling at helping UCF provide international focus to our curricula and research programs
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award (2015), UCF