As a chief spokesperson for a national movement to prevent violence and a frequent speaker in national media and public forums, Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith is a nationally recognized public health leader. In 1987, she was appointed the first woman Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In that role, she established the first Office of Violence Prevention in a state department of public health, expanded prevention programs for HIV/AIDS, and increased drug treatment and rehabilitation programs. Dr. Prothrow-Stith currently serves as Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and founding director of the Division of Public Health Practice. Dr. Prothrow-Stith supports the application of rigorous scientific methods to strengthen violence prevention programs. She developed and wrote "The Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents," a forerunner of violence prevention curriculum for schools and communities. She is the author of "Deadly Consequences," the first book to present the public health perspective on violence to a mass audience. She has authored and co-authored more than 80 publications on medical and public health issues. Dr. Prothrow-Stith was the keynote speaker for the annual meeting of American College Health Association in May 2006. The Editors of "The Journal of American College Health" have revised her speech to share her comments in this issue and thought her words would be a proper introduction to the ACHA White Paper on Domestic Violence.