Sharon C Wilsnack

July 31, 1943 – December 5, 2025

There are some who bring a light so great to the world, that even after they are gone, the light remains. - Anonymous

Dr. Sharon Carlson Wilsnack was born to Lloyd and Maxine Carlson on July 31, 1943, in Manhattan, Kansas. Sharon attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, starting out as a music major with dreams of becoming a concert pianist, until an honors program class in college inspired her to change her major and to become a clinical psychologist.

After achieving a BA in psychology from Kansas State and a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Freiburg (Germany), Sharon completed a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Harvard University in 1972. At Harvard, Sharon met the love of her life, Richard Wilsnack. They married on December 29, 1967, in Manhattan, Kansas, and then began their married life and their family in Cambridge, MA. During this time, Sharon decided to focus her career on studying how women use and are affected by alcohol.

Following Harvard and life in Massachusetts, Sharon, Richard and their growing family moved to Bloomington, Indiana where she served as Coordinator of Addiction Services at Bloomington Mental Health Center. In 1978, she and Richard accepted offers from the University of North Dakota, and moved the family to Grand Forks, ND, which would be their home for the next 4 decades.

Over the next 40 years, Sharon became a leader of a national longitudinal study of drinking among US women, and a multinational study of how gender and culture affect drinking behavior. This research led her to co-author 174 research publications, including co-editing 3 books: Alcohol Problems in Women: Antecedents, Consequences, and Intervention with Linda J Beckman in 1984, Gender and Alcohol: Individual and Social Perspectives with her husband Richard in 1997 and Unhappy Hours: Alcohol and Partner Aggression in the Americas with Maria Cristina Pereira Lima and Florence Kerr-Corrêa in 2008.

As a result of her groundbreaking research, Sharon accumulated numerous awards. In addition to a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professorship at the University of North Dakota, her national and international honors included a 2006 Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the American Psychological Association, a 2010 Betty Ford Recipient Award from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, a 2019 Award for Advancement of International Research Collaboration on Alcohol from the Kettil Bruun Society, and a 2022 Dora Goldstein Award from the Research Society on Alcohol, to name but a few. Sharon’s reputation in the field of women and alcohol led to national and international acclaim as well as speaking engagements worldwide, including being a guest speaker on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

While Sharon’s work was important to her and her accolades were numerous and impressive, she often said her greatest accomplishment was being a mother to her five children: Joel, Brian, Peter, Kirsten and Jonathan. Juggling a family with a busy career that involved national and international travel was not easy, but Sharon managed to never miss her children’s birthdays, recitals or important events.

Sharon raised her children in her Lutheran faith, with the Wilsnack family being regular members of the Augustana Lutheran Church community in Grand Forks, ND. Throughout the years, Sharon continued to cherish her friendship with former church pastor, Kathy Brown. She also found new ways to stay connected to Augustana by regularly watching Sunday services online.

Following her retirement from UND in 2018, Sharon and Richard moved to St Paul, MN, to be closer to family, especially her grandkids. Here she was able to focus fully on being ‘Nana’ to her six grandchildren, Noah, Anika, Eli, Mia, Rohan and Icarus.

In addition to her distinguished career and beloved family, Sharon was also involved in causes that touched her heart, donating regularly to notable charities and participating in important petitions and protests against injustices, both worldwide and politically.

Sharon was preceded in death by her parents Lloyd and Maxine Carlson of Manhattan, KS. Sharon is survived by her loving husband Richard of Falcon Heights, MN, her children Joel (and wife Priya Sharma) of River Forest IL, Brian

of Eagan MN, Peter of Seattle WA, Kirsten (and husband William Robinson) of Lakeville MN, Jonathan of Eagan MN, and grandchildren Anika and Rohan Wilsnack of River Forest IL and Noah, Eli, Mia and Icarus Robinson of Lakeville MN. Sharon is also survived by sister Linda Armstrong (and husband John) as well as nieces Sarah Parent and Beth Madden.

Sharon was a light in a very tumultuous world, and her professional work and her love for family, friends and colleagues will be remembered by many around the world.

A memorial will be held Sunday, April 12 at 1:00 at the McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota, located at 200 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Donations can be made in Sharon’s memory to Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) and The Covenant House (www.covenanthouse.org).