Trudy W. Banta was born on July 18, 1941. She earned her B.A. in Education and M.A. in Counseling from the University of Kentucky and her Ed.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee. She began her professional career at the University of Tennessee, where she worked as an Assistant and then Associate Professor in the College of Education (1967-1981), as Administrative Assistant and later Special Assistant to the Chancellor (1979-1982), as a Professor in the Bureau of Educational Research and Service (1981-1986), as Director of the National Assessment Resource Center (1986-1989), and as Professor and Director of the Center for Assessment Research and Development (1989-1992). In 1992, Banta accepted a position as Vice Chancellor for Planning and Institutional Improvement and Professor of Higher Education at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indiana.