Biography

Binghamton University has six residential communities called Colleges. Each community is organized under a collegiate structure with its own student government, community-specific activities and programs, dining hall, and faculty members who serve as Faculty Fellows. In addition, each College has a Faculty Master who works to bridge the lives of college students outside the classroom with their academic pursuits. I am the Faculty Master of Mountainview College at Binghamton. I have taught at Binghamton University for more than 30 years and am a Professor in the Department of Human Development. I am the author of four books and more than 60 scholarly articles and chapters. My academic area of specialty is criminology. Early in my career, I conducted research in prisons but more recently have focused my attention on how to prevent children and youth from engaging in problematic behaviors—committing crimes; using drugs, tobacco and alcohol; becoming teenage parents; misbehaving in schools; and failing and dropping out of school. I have helped to develop and implement programs to improve parenting skills and behaviors. I have conducted research on mentoring programs. Along with other community leaders, I was instrumental in starting the Broome County Gang Prevention Program. I work closely with schools and community agencies to assess and plan for quality improvements in services for children and their families. I am frequently called upon to facilitate meetings and programs to enhance life within the community. These activities include helping an arts organization to develop its strategic plan, presiding over town hall meetings for disaster victims, developing an interagency coalition to address the needs of youth, and leading a coalition of community members and school officials to assess and refocus athletics within the school district.