Sharon Paine Stephens Brehm

Sharon Paine Stephens Brehm died Friday, March 30, 2018 at home in Bloomington, Indiana. Sharon was born in Roanoke, Virginia on April 18, 1945. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in psychology from Duke University. She followed with a Master’s Degree from Harvard University and then returned to Duke to earn a PhD in clinical psychology. Sharon’s first faculty appointment was at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. After a year, she moved to the University of Kansas, where she served on the psychology faculty for 15 years. In 1990, Sharon moved to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton to take a position as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Sharon was appointed Provost at Ohio University in 1996 and moved to Indiana University (IU) Bloomington in 2001 to serve as Chancellor – the first woman to hold this position. After stepping down from her role as Chancellor, Sharon joined the IU psychology faculty, becoming Professor Emeritus in 2013. During Sharon’s time as an IU faculty member, she was active in teaching and national service—including as President of the American Psychological Association. Sharon was a writer of especially high regard. She published numerous books, chapters, and professional articles, including two textbooks. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and a visiting scholar at universities in Germany and Italy. Sharon’s empirical research concerned psychological reactance, empathy, and self-focus. Sharon is survived by a sister, Brooke Stephens (husband, Jon Barton), Roanoke, Virginia; niece, Mary Barton, Arlington, Virginia; nephew, Adam Barton, Washington, D.C.; a half-sister, Paige Stephens Warner Gauvreau and family, Schenectady, New York; cousin, Jane Phillips (husband, Jim), Venice, Florida; and other extended family members; and friends and former colleagues at Indiana University Bloomington, including Jim and Roberta Sherman. Sharon was preceded in death by her parents, John Wallis Stephens and Jane Phenix Stephens; maternal grandparents, Robert Pittman Phenix and Mary Derr Phenix; and by her former husband, Jack W. Brehm. You are invited to share a memory or an online condolence for Sharon at allencares.com

Tributes

Sharon Paine Stephens Brehm

April 18, 1945 - March 30, 2018