ELIZABETH ROBERTSON

ROBERTSON Elizabeth Breslin Robertson, Ph.D Elizabeth Breslin Robertson, Ph.D. She was Liz to her friends and colleagues, and Mia to her beloved grandchildren. As she wished, Liz died peacefully at her home surrounded by her husband Bill and loved-ones on December 28, 2021. She was 74. Liz had the rare good fortune to be passionate about both her personal and professional life. Fiercely devoted to her family and friends, she was equally dedicated to her work. Her focus on child development - in particular, preventing drug abuse among children - came from a profound, life-long love of and concern for the children she encountered, both her own and those of her friends and the communities in which she lived. Her many loving friendships spanning her lifetime spoke to her kind and open nature, and, of course, her love of a good party. Like her love of children, her love of small animals came from her deep-seated desire to protect the small and vulnerable. And her love of life was expressed in the joy she took from beauty in her surroundings: she lived in many lovely neighborhoods, grew delightful gardens, and redesigned a number of houses (her final home in Washington Grove garnered her the town's Outstanding Renovation Award in 2013). In 1993, when Liz and Bill moved to Washington, DC, they became active in All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The church community, where she found many meaningful lifelong friendships, was an important part of Liz's life and her memorial service will be held there. Dr. Robertson continued her career and had a major influence on the field of drug abuse prevention science through her scholarship, leadership, advocacy, outreach, and mentoring activities. She served as a Health Scientist Administrator (1995-1997), Chief of the Prevention Research Branch (1997-2011) and Senior Advisor for Prevention Research (2011-2014) at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 2014, she was awarded the Society for Prevention Research's (SPR) Presidential Award for her lifetime contributions and received the SPR Fellowship for her substantial body of work, which had a broad and significant impact on prevention science. A visionary and luminary in the field of prevention science, she advocated tirelessly in support of funding research expanding developmental, cultural, and social contexts in order to create innovative prevention interventions that were needed and that succeeded. Dr. Robertson's contributions to prevention research span the written to the spoken word, including invited presentations, peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and monographs. She was always very generous with her time. She welcomed an opportunity to support others by providing consultations, organizing scientific meetings, and serving on committees and boards, in the United States and abroad. Always creative in her thinking, she encouraged and inspired the same in others. Post-retirement, she was coaxed into returning to the University of Alabama to serve as Senior Associate Dean for Research in the College of Human Environmental Science. Here, where Dr. Robertson started her career in the late 1970's as an instructor at the University of Alabama Child Development Lab, she left a legacy with a recorded lecture series on prevention research, from ideology to technique. Dr. Robertson eventually retired in 2020, and moved, with husband Bill, back to their adopted home in Washington Grove, Maryland. A graduate of North Quincy High School, in Quincy, Massachusetts, Liz went on to obtain a BS in Nutrition at Framingham State College (1969), an MS in Child Development and Family Relations, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1971), and a PhD in Child Development, University of North Carolina (Greensboro) (1988), followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Carolina Consortium on Human Development and the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1990). Born on June 28, 1947, at Brigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, Liz spent her childhood in Squantum, Massachusetts. Liz was pre-deceased by her father, James (Jim) Breslin, her mother Frances (Doucette) Breslin, and brothers Paul Breslin and Philip Breslin. Liz is loved and will be missed by Bill Robertson, their daughter Nancy and granddaughters Morgan, Meagan, Hailey and Paige, and by cousins, friends, and colleagues. Her family and friends celebrate her love of life, her sense of adventure, and her enthusiasm for helping the individuals and communities in her life with any projects and challenges they presented to her. A memorial service is planned for the spring. If so moved, donations in memory of Liz may be sent to local organizations that feed the hungry: Manna Food: Manna Food Center - Fighting hunger in Montgomery County (mannafood.org); Maryland Food Bank/Feeding America (mdfoodbank.org); and Children's Defense Fund (childrensdefense.org).A memorial service is planned for the spring. If so moved, donations in memory of Liz may be sent to local organizations that feed the hungry: Manna Food: Manna Food Center - Fighting hunger in Montgomery County (mannafood.org); Maryland Food Bank/Feeding America (mdfoodbank.org); and Children's Defense Fund (childrensdefense.org).