Established in 2000, the Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Professorship provides ongoing support for a faculty member at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences focused on violence prevention research and education.
The professorship is named for the founding couple behind the Society for the Prevention of Violence. Semi J. Begun was an innovator in magnetic recording technology, while Ruth W. Begun was the first woman to study physics at the doctoral level at the University of Berlin, and was the co-developer of the spacecraft ion engine at NASA Glenn Research Center.
Daniel J. Flannery, PhD, who holds the professorship, led a team of researchers to develop the groundbreaking Violence Exposure and Trauma Screener for Youth tool for identifying and addressing psychological consequences of youth violence.
