News Release

Shaun Gabbidon named distinguished professor

January 28, 2010

Penn State Harrisburg criminal justice faculty member Shaun L. Gabbidon has become the second scholar in the college’s history to be named a Distinguished Professor by the University’s Office of the President.

Since joining the School of Public Affairs faculty and its undergraduate and graduate programs in Criminal Justice in 1999, Gabbidon has built a national and international reputation for his research and writing on criminal justice issues, including race and crime, security administration, and pedagogical issues in criminology/criminal justice.

The title of distinguished professor recognizes a select group of professors who have achieved exceptional accomplishments in teaching, research and service.

Simon Bronner, Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Folklore, was the first Penn State Harrisburg faculty member to earn the prestigious title in 1991.

“It’s exciting to be recognized (as a distinguished professor),” Gabbidon says. “Penn State has provided all the support I have needed and because of that I have been able to flourish here.” Not content to rely on past successes, he adds, “Now I just have to keep going forward.”

Steven A. Peterson, director of the college’s School of Public Affairs, said “There are a number of strong candidates for this designation at Penn State Harrisburg, but Dr. Gabbidon’s record of publications – from books to journal articles, his recognition as a scholar in his special areas of expertise, and his national visibility make him a worthy recipient. His record of publication is remarkable for someone at this stage in his career.”

Gabbidon is the author or editor of 10 books and nearly 50 peer-reviewed articles. In his most recent volume, Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice: An International Dilemma, he expanded his pioneering research in the field of race and crime “to examine criminal justice issues in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and South Africa that also resonate in the U.S.”

His 2007 book, W.E.B. DuBois on Crime and Justice was heralded as the first volume to discern the contribution to that scholar’s work to the criminal justice field. Dr. Joseph R. Feagin, a leading scholar on race and ethnicity at Texas A&M University, wrote, “Shaun Gabbidon’s book on W.E.B. DuBois and crime provides an original and innovative window into this little known area of DuBois’s research and thought. Gabbidon provides much evidence, drawing on original sources, to back up his contention that DuBois did important research on and theorizing about U.S. crime, especially as it affected Black Americans. He shows how in many ways DuBois anticipated later theories of crime in Western criminology.”

Honored numerous times for his work, Gabbidon has earned the Coramae R. Mann Distinguished Service Award presented by the American Society of Criminology and the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology. He was also named a distinguished scholar alumni by Indiana University of Pennsylvania on the 20th anniversary of its Ph.D. program in Criminology. In 2007, Penn State Harrisburg honored him with its Excellence in Research and Scholarly Activity Award.

Distinguished professor designees must: be  acknowledged leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; have demonstrated significant leadership in raising the University standards with respect to teaching, research or creative activity and service; and have demonstrated excellent teaching skills and contributed significantly to the education of students who subsequently have achieved recognition of excellence in their fields.

More news about Dr. Gabbidon

Researcher takes international view of race and crime
Race, crime is focus of newest book from Shaun Gabbidon