In memoriam: Sharon Carlson Wilsnack and Richard Wilsnack

  • Kim Bloomfield Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Kathryn Graham Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  • Tonda L. Hughes Center for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research, Columbia University, New York City, USA
  • Florence Kerr-Corrêa Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Adriana Marcassa Tucci Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Maria Cristina Pereira Lima Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Anne-Marie Laslett Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
  • Martha Romero Mendoza National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexican Researchers National System, San Lorenzo Huipulco, Tlalpan, México
  • Nancy Vogeltanz-Holm University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA
  • Thomas Greenfield Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Emeryville, CA, USA
  • Moira Plant University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom
  • Julio Bejarano National Institute of Drug Abuse and Alcoholism, Costa Rica
  • Arlinda Kristjanson University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA
  • Sandra Kuntsche Family Therapy & Systemic Research, The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
  • Maristela G. Monteiro Pan American Health Organization
  • Myriam Munné P.I. GENACIS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.725
Keywords: Sharon Wilsnack

Abstract

In early December 2025. members of the Kettil Bruun Society learned of the very sad news that our friend and colleague, Professor Sharon Wilsnack had passed away. Sharon was a longtime member of KBS and had a prominent role in the society beginning in 1993 when she started the KBS working group on alcohol and gender, the International Research Group on Gender and Alcohol (IRGGA). From this group grew other networks and multinational research projects, funded by the US National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), the European Commission, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and various funding agencies from collaborating countries (https://www.kettilbruun.org/projects/genacis/). For over 30 years, Sharon helped to maintain a strong focus on women, gender and alcohol within our society and helped to make the KBS a truly international research society. As described in the tributes, she was also a dedicated mentor to many young researchers coming up within KBS.

The many posts on the KBS listserv following news of Sharon’s death made it clear that members of KBS wished to share their sorrow and show their appreciation for Sharon’s contributions both to the body of knowledge on women and alcohol and to the careers of so many people around the world. Accordingly, after consultation with the Editors of IJADR, we started to collect these tributes for publication in this, the KBS journal.

Then, very shortly before a memorial service was to be held for Sharon on 12 April 2026 in Minneapolis, MN, USA, we received the news that Professor Richard Wilsnack, Sharon’s spouse of many decades, had passed away from a long illness. This was yet another blow to the IRGGA community and to KBS members generally, many of whom had also benefitted from Richard’s leadership, advice and depth of knowledge. To have both members of this wonderful couple depart so soon after each other was heartbreaking, especially to the Wilsnack children and grandchildren.

Some who were part of the IRGGA community worked mainly with Sharon. However, others worked closely with Richard, too. Therefore, we and the editors decided to invite people to revise their tributes to include their memories and the accomplishments of both Richard and Sharon, if they wished.

What follows is a collection of tributes written by some of the many KBS researchers who were touched by both Sharon’s and Richard’s guidance, wisdom, support and collaboration. We hope that the reader will enjoy reminiscing and appreciating these very special lives.

Published
2026-05-31
How to Cite
Bloomfield, K., Graham, K., Hughes, T. L., Kerr-Corrêa, F., Marcassa Tucci, A., Pereira Lima, M. C., Laslett, A.-M., Romero Mendoza, M., Vogeltanz-Holm, N., Greenfield, T., Plant, M., Bejarano, J., Kristjanson, A., Kuntsche, S., Monteiro, M. G., & Munné, M. (2026). In memoriam: Sharon Carlson Wilsnack and Richard Wilsnack. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research. https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.725
Issue
Early View Papers and Abstracts
Section
Tributes

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