Dr. Ator passed away peacefully on November 7 at the age of 81 after a long illness. Dr. Ator earned her B.A. (1972) and Masters (1974) degrees in Psychology and her Ph.D. (1978) in Biopsychology at the University of Maryland under the mentorship of Dr. Lewis Gollub. She then joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a post-doctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Roland Griffiths. Upon completion of the fellowship she was recruited to join the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she stayed as a full-time member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences until her retirement in 2021. Dr. Ator was the Director of the Division of Behavioral Biology from 1999 until 2019 and was the longtime chair of the Johns Hopkins Animal Care and Use Committee. She was the 49th woman promoted to Professor within the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the 6th ever in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Ator was elected to American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) membership in 1997. Most recently she was Member Emeritus. She was very active in the ACNP, serving on multiple committees including the Committee on the Use of Animals in Neuropsychopharmacology. She was the ACNP representative to the Board of Trustees of AAALAC International (2004-2016; Delegate beginning 2017 following change in governance structure) as well as to the STAR coalition (Supporting Truth about Animal Research). In addition, she made numerous contributions nationally, including serving on an advisory committee to the Director of the NIH, and the Working Group on Reproducible Research with Animals, as well as the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AALAC) International. Her work in the ACNP earned her the Paul Hoch Distinguished Service Award. She also was awarded the Distinguished Delegate Service Award from the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care.

Dr. Ator was internationally recognized for her research utilizing principles of the experimental analysis of behavior and preclinical behavioral pharmacology. Her influential work focused on understanding the reinforcing and stimulus properties of sedative-hypnotic and GABAergic drugs, and their relationship to drug abuse liability in laboratory animal models [1,2,3,4]. She also influenced regulatory thinking and the value of laboratory animals in advancing medical research [5]. Dr. Ator is survived by her husband of 62 years, Lloyd G. Ator, Jr; her daughter Melissa Ator Parisi (Robert); grandchildren Kyle Parisi and Eva Parisi; brothers James W. Almand (Pam) and John P. Almand (Maryann). She is also survived by her sister-in-law Becky Koen (Dean), brother-in-law Robert Ator (Sue), and beloved nieces and nephews.

The scientific community has lost a great leader and scientific advocate for preclinical research, as well as a valued and dear colleague and friend.