About

The Institute

The Institute for Research and Evaluation (IRE) is a nonprofit research agency that has been evaluating prevention programs for more than 30 years. IRE has gained national recognition for its work evaluating sex education programs, particularly sexual risk avoidance/abstinence education interventions. The Institute has conducted program evaluations for Title V, CBAE, and Title XX projects in 30 states and three foreign countries, collected data from more than 900,000 teens, and produced over one hundred studies of school-based sex education. IRE research papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals, including, The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, The American Journal of Health Behavior, and Issues in Law and Medicine. IRE staff members have spoken at professional conferences and workshops, consulted with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and been asked to provide expert testimony to state legislative bodies, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the White House.

Stan E. Weed, PhD—Director

Dr. Weed holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Washington. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in his field. His primary professional and research interest has been the social problems and preventive programs related to adolescents: teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and delinquency. His research has been published in scholarly professional journals and presented at meetings of the American Psychological Association, Academy of Management Association, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Evaluation Association, National Conference on Family Relations, and World Conference of Sociologists. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, and as a consultant to the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs in the Department of Health and Human Services. His work assessing the impact of current social policy on teen pregnancy has been cited on NBC TV and in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and scores of newspapers around the country. Dr. Weed has also been invited to present his work in Washington D.C. at The White House, the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, the U.S. House Committee on Health and Transportation, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to legislative bodies in several states, and at Moscow University in Russia. He has served as a national consultant for federal Title XX and CBAE projects, was a charter member of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (now, Power to Decide) and is the author of a successful character education curriculum. He founded IRE in 1988 and currently serves as Director and CEO.

Irene H. Ericksen, MS—Senior Research Analyst

Irene Ericksen holds a Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Utah. She has been affiliated with the Institute for 15 years. She has authored or co-authored many papers on the effectiveness of sex education programs, including articles published in peer-reviewed journals and briefs presented at the U.S. Congress and the White House. Ms. Ericksen served for three years as one of six members of a national panel of consultants to the CDC-supported Community Preventive Services Task Force meta-analysis study on sex education effectiveness and as a secondary author for the published report on the study (2012). She has been invited to present her work at the National Academies of Sciences (2019), the United Nations Civil Society Conference (2019), and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2020), and is an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Pediatricians (2020).

Contractors/Consultants

Joseph A. Olsen, Ph.D.
Brigham Young University

Matt Evans, Ph.D.
Evans Evaluation

Nicole Anderson, Ph.D.

Judy Andrews, BA—Administrative Manager

Ms. Andrews has been with IRE since 2006. She holds a BA in secondary education from the University of Utah and taught both middle school and high school for many years. Ms. Andrews did extensive work on the AEGIS curriculum, and is now in charge of IRE logistics and accounts payable.

Brenda Davis, BS—AEGIS Character Education Coordinator

Ms. Davis joined IRE in 2009. She has a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University – Idaho. She is in charge of AEGIS Character Education updates, special projects and other duties.