Congratulations to Sharon Mihalic!
On June 19, Sharon Mihalic’s long and distinguished career in the Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS) was celebrated. She retires effective July 1, 2018. Sharon, a Senior Research Associate in the Program on Problem Behavior, has served as an Investigator, CO-PI or PI on major Federal and Foundation grants for 28 years. Her early work was on the National Youth Survey and an experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of an interlock ignition device as a deterrent to drunk driving. She published two seminal articles from this early work, one on the epidemiology of marital violence and a second on the relationship between adolescent work and delinquent behavior. From 1998 to 2018 Sharon was the CO-PI and Director of the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Project, funded by a series of a multimillion-dollar grants from the U.S. Department of Justice, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Between 2006 and 2018, Sharon organized and managed seven national Blueprints Conferences, attracting over 600 national and international participants for each event. She received additional multimillion-dollar research grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Altria Foundation, serving as the PI on these projects during her career in IBS. She published regularly on her work and was awarded the Science to Practice Award from the Society for Prevention Research in 2009 and the Pioneer in Prevention Award at the 2018 Blueprints National Conference. All present at the celebration applauded Sharon for her remarkable career and contributions to the Program and wished her well in her retirement.