Chris Mullen began her career in Washington, DC as an Engineer with the Government Affairs Office of Nissan North America, working as company liaison for safety and environmental regulation and research. From there, she moved to the Technical and Regulatory Affairs Office of Toyota Motor North America; responsible for crashworthiness regulation and biomechanics research. She represented Toyota and its interests as technical liaison to government agencies, industry trade associations, independent research laboratories, and technical committees. She also served on industry technical committees to develop voluntary standards for side impact out of position testing, vehicle crash compatibility, alcohol detection devices, and event data recorders and on the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Occupant Protection Subcommittee.
Chris chaired the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Biomechanics workgroup for 9 years, chaired its Safety Research Subcommittee for 2 years, is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and has served on its committees for technical standards on vehicle event data interface, crash test dummies and crash data collection and analysis. She currently serves on the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM) Executive and Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) Business Committees, Board of Directors, Membership Committee, and received its A.J. Mirkin Service Award in 2011.
Chris sat on the Industry Advisory Board for the National Science Foundation’s Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies for 10 years, chairing from 2006-2008, and sits on External Advisory Boards for the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University Biomedical Engineering & Applied Mechanics Department (VT-WFU BEAM). She has been a reviewer for Traffic Injury Prevention and the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress. Chris has been an invited speaker for the Governors’ Highway Safety Administration annual meeting, the Lifesavers’ Conference, and the Automotive Safety Council Annual Meeting, and was a guest lecturer for the George Washington University Masters in Public Health program and Trauma Rounds. Chris also represents State Farm on the Leadership Circle for the Mobility Transformation Center at the University of Michigan.
Chris is currently the Director of the Technology Research Division at State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, responsible for auto and building technology research units, automobile manufacturer relations unit, the Vehicle Research Facility, and the Technology Research and Innovation Laboratory. The division focuses on vehicle advanced technology, functionality, repairability, occupant and highway safety, as well as building safety, structure, and durability. Chris serves as national spokesperson for State Farm® safety research efforts, including teen driver safety, engaged driving, automated and connected vehicle technology, and peril-based mitigation research and has appeared on national TV and radio programs such as NBC’s The Today Show and the Weather Channel’s AMHQ. She resides in Bloomington, IL with her husband and a canine “fur child”.