Sharon E. Milligan is the Grace Longwell Coyle Associate Professor in Social Work at the Mandel School. She has graduate degrees in social work, public health and community development. Her undergraduate degree at Spelman College, a Historically Black College and University, sparked her curiosity about the conditions of women and children across the African diaspora. Her interdisciplinary research interests are in four areas:
- Strategies for mediating the impact of COVID on social workers within the health care system and within social work education;
- Understanding the experiences of women, minorities and elders living with chronic illnesses;
- Evaluating conditions and assets in low-income Black communities and the engagement of residents;
- The engagement of African Americans in clinical trials and other research endeavors to inform primary and secondary interventions.
She has devoted much of her academic career to institution building. After being promoted and tenured in 1988, she served in the roles of co-director (1994–2007) and associate director (2001–2004) of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.
Milligan has been involved in various technical assistance projects and/or formal and non-formal courses in Kenya, Ghana, Cuba and Jamaica. Her interest in the well-being of women and children led her to join the board and become board chair for International Partners in Mission (IPM) which promotes global awareness of our shared human dignity within an interconnected world where equity should be guaranteed for all. IPM has programs for women in Latin America, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. As past board chair of IPM, she is impressed with how working within geographical spaces alongside residents through technical assistance and training can inform and improve the quality of the lives of families and kinship networks.