Dr. Candace Jeavons Wilkinson, Ph.D., is the Director of Operations and Outreach at the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART).  Dr. Wilkinson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hiram College in 1978 with a major in Psychology.  She then received her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Kent State University.

The Center for Autism Research and Treatment was established in 2003 as one of eight national centers in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research initiative, Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART).  In 2007, the Center was awarded two NIH new Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) grants – as one of six national ACE Centers and as the lead research site in one of five national ACE Network projects.  In 2012, NIH announced new ACE awards; notably, CART was the only ACE Center in the nation to get renewed funding to 2017 (ACE II).

Dr. Jeavons Wilkinson was a guest of Hiram College’s Center for Engaged Ethics, which will be orchestrating program events centering on Hiram College’s annual ethics theme on the topic of disability and ability during the 2013-2014 academic year.  Dr. Jeavons Wilkinson and her mother were able to tour the Hiram Farm Living and Learning Community, meet several of our farmers, and talked with Executive Director De Ann Brewer and Hiram Farm Board members Doug Brattebo (Director of the Center for Engaged Ethics, Hiram College) and Jason Bricker Thompson (Director of the Office of Civic Engagement, Hiram College) about the farm’s plans for growth and development.

Hiram College and Hiram Farm Living and Learning Community were thankful for the opportunity to visit with Dr. Jeavons Wilkinson and learn more about her work at UCLA’s Center for Autism Research and her passion for liberal arts education and thinking across disciplines.  Hiram College and Hiram Farm are both hopeful to find ways to collaborate with Dr. Jeavons Wilkinson in the future and look forward to meeting with her on her next visit to Ohio.