MSUM alum's research is making roads safer

Not everyone walks onto a college campus knowing what they want to do with their degree. But for Sheila "Charlie" Klauer, the journey from curious student to nationally recognized transportation safety researcher started in the classrooms and research labs at Minnesota State Moorhead.

Charlie graduated from MSU Moorhead with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1992. This spring she received the MSUM Foundation's Distinguished Alumni Award for her impact as a lead research scientist in driver assessment, performance, and training.

Charlie emphasizes the academic rigor and community that helped shape her path. "It is a mid-size school that can provide the academic foundation for any student to achieve whatever they want," she says.

The human perception and performance lab was her second home. She first stepped into her freshman year and never looked back.

"Those experiences in the research lab were transformative to me. Twenty years later, I'm still collecting data, testing subjects, learning new things, and writing research papers as I used to do at MSUM," Charlie says.

The Psychology Club was fundamental in her educational career. She was a member and went to Chicago every year to the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, where she stumbled upon a concept called "human factors." Something inside Charlie clicked, and she knew she wanted to pursue that career path.

BA in Psychology

Her advisor, Dr. Hallford, and professors were influential and encouraging. He formed reading groups with graduate and undergraduate students. "He gave everyone a voice. I learned so much," Charlie says.

Outside her major, Charlie took several English and philosophy classes and was part of the wind ensemble despite not being a music major. One of her fondest memories is a trip to Spain with the wind ensemble.

"I got a broad-spectrum education that created a very strong foundation for everything else I've done so far," Charlie says.

Her undergraduate experience set her apart in graduate school as well. "I was incredibly well prepared - by then had written 5 to 10 research papers," she says. "MSUM created a platform for me to be successful in my career."

After graduating from MSUM, she earned a master's degree in human factors psychology and a Ph.D. in industrial systems engineering, with a human factors emphasis. Charlie has dedicated her entire career to understanding and mitigating risks for teen drivers, studying driver behavior, distraction, and real-time feedback systems to help reduce accidents and change the way teen drivers train.

Today, Charlie is a lead researcher for applied driver assessment, performance, and training at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and a faculty member in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. She has worked with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Institutes of Health, and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. She has received more than $34 million in grants and contracts for her research.

Teen drivers are overrepresented in crashes from any other age group. Losing a teenager means losing their entire life of productivity on top of the heartache of their family and parents and friends who lost that person.

Dr. Hallford once told Charlie that the average number of people who read a research paper is probably two or three. However, in 2012, she and her team published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is still at the top 3% of most-read articles, and her dissertations have been cited over 6,000 times.

"My team research is influencing the way we think about teen driver training," she says. "Knowing that our work is making an impact is what keeps me going.

Despite her impressive accomplishments, Charlie remains deeply motivated by a simple yet powerful goal: achieve zero fatalities on U.S. roadways.

Her passion, persistence, and dedication to saving lives have earned her the Distinguished Alumni Award, a recognition that speaks to the impact of her work and the foundation that started it at MSUM. Congratulations to a researcher, innovator, and lifelong learner who turned curiosity into a career that's making a real difference.