Academy picks BGSU prof as first woman president

BOWLING GREEN, O.—The American Academy of Health Behavior has elected Dr. Molly Laflin, a professor of health promotion at Bowling Green State University, as its first woman president.

Laflin, the current secretary of the academy, will serve as president elect for one year, effective March 28, prior to her year as president beginning in March 2008. She will then become past president for another year.

A BGSU faculty member since 1983, Laflin was a charter member of the academy, which was founded in 1997 as a national organization dedicated to health behavior research. She joined its board of directors in 2004.

Laflin, a Bowling Green resident, has received more than $2.6 million in external funding for research projects during her career. She directed the Drug Free Ohio program at BGSU from 1987-92 and has been director of the Prevention Connection on campus since 1992. Since 1999, she has directed the Sexual Health in Ohio Project (SHOP) as well.

Also a member of the University's Center for Family and Demographic Research, Laflin is coordinator of the Health Promotion Program in BGSU's School of Family and Consumer Sciences. She first served as coordinator from 1999-2002, then took the position again in 2005.

Her research interests include alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention, and human sexuality. She teaches courses in those areas and in health communication strategies.

Laflin earned her Ph.D. in health education from the University of Maryland. A native of Clayton, Mo., a St. Louis suburb, she received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Kansas.

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(Posted February 27, 2007)