Shawn Boles is a Senior Research Associate at the Oregon Research Institute and Emeritus Senior Research Associate in the Center on Human Development at the University of Oregon. He received his A.B. degree in Psychology from Oglethorpe University in 1965, followed by two years teaching general science as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. He returned from that endeavor to attend Georgia State University, receiving his Ph.D. (1971) in Experimental Psychology (Mathematical Learning Theory) with a minor in the Philosophy of Science.

Following a year as Chair of the Psychology Department at Oglethorpe University, he moved to applied research in Human Services settings—initially at the Georgia Retardation Center and then at the University of Oregon’s Center on Human Development, where he developed, evaluated, and disseminated residential, school, and vocational models for citizens with Developmental Disabilities. Over the past two decades, he has served as co-investigator on a variety of research studies at Oregon Research Institute focused on assessing the impact of behavior change programs in public health and educational settings.

His current research interests include the design and display of information for social service decision makers, and the contributions of the social sciences to achieving sustainable practices.