Tracy Downs

Tracy Downs, Ed.D., serves as the associate Center director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention. She came to the Center in May 2009 as the senior associate for alcohol and other drug abuse prevention. Dr. Downs oversees all program development and directs all center management functions. She is the principal liaison to the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education—the Center’s funder—and external partners, and she represents the Center at regional and national venues, providing technical and programmatic consultations and presentations.

Dr. Downs has more than a decade’s experience working on campus and community alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues. She directed The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation–funded A Matter of Degree coalition at the University of Delaware, where she gained extensive experience developing and implementing environmental prevention and management strategies to reduce AOD problems. Before joining the Higher Education Center, Dr. Downs worked with the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. She holds a doctorate of education in higher education administration and educational leadership from the University of Delaware.