Sharon Mellor

Sharon K. Mellor, PhD, CAE.  Sharon has 35 years experience leading national nonprofit foundations.  Most recently she served as CEO of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF).  OREF provides research grants from $5,000 starter grants for orthopaedic residents to $800,000 research grants for multi-center clinical trials.  She retired from her career in 2017 and moved from Chicago to Pittman Center, where she joined her husband and in-laws as part of the innkeeping team at the Buckhorn Inn. 

Sharon earned her B.A. degree from Purdue University where she was named one of 10 Dean's Scholars in the School of Liberal Arts.  She earned her M.B.A. from Loyola University of Chicago.  Her Ph.D. is from Union Institute and University.  She also completed a health executives development course at Cornell University.  She earned the Certified Association Executive credential from the American Society of Association Executives.  She has been a frequent speaker at nonprofit conferences nationwide and authored a book chapter on finance for small nonprofit organizations. 

In addition to her Board position at the Anna Porter Public Library she also serves on the board of Objective:  Veterans Smile, a nonprofit organized to ensure dental care to veterans.  She was a Founding Board Member of CreatiVets, a nonprofit organized to help veterans gain coping tools through the arts.  She is a member of MENSA and has served on their national public relations advisory board.  Sharon recently earned a Level 1 Certification in Wines from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust.  She will apply these skills to food and wine pairings at Buckhorn Inn.