Criminology center to reopen

The School of Arts and Sciences approved the establishment of a criminology center last Wednesday, re-establishing a program that shut down just two years ago. The Jerry Lee Center of Criminology will be funded by a private donor, Jerry Lee, the president of Philadelphia's B101 radio station. Lee has donated $1 million to the center and is raising additional funding. "Our plans are making this the finest center of criminology in the world in five years," Lee said. This center will be directed by Fels Center for Government Director Lawrence Sherman. With the new center, undergraduates and graduate students, as well as faculty, will be able to study crime. Additionally, there soon may be more criminology opportunities at Penn -- the SAS faculty votes tomorrow on the creation of a doctoral program. Lee said he is currently seeking support from broadcasters in reducing crime, which he said would add "to the effectiveness of this program." "We really are committed to major breakthroughs in the science of crime," Sherman said. "[And] we have to put that information into the hands of policy makers and practitioners," he added. The Lee Center succeeds the Sellin Center for Studies in Criminology, which existed under Criminology and Law Professor Marvin Wolfgang. The center shut down after Wolfgang's death in 1998. Though traditionally a branch of the Sociology Department, Wolfgang's move from SAS to Wharton in 1982 moved the department to Wharton's Legal Studies Department. While the center will serve as a research center, Sherman noted that it will also invite scholars from the field to conduct research through grants from around the nation and the world. To date, over 100 Ph.D.'s with Criminology concentrations -- through SAS or Wharton -- have been awarded through the University. As for a new Ph.D. program, Sherman said there was "wonderful" support for the program from SAS. While the center will focus much on faculty and scholarly research, Sherman noted that the benefits of the center to undergraduates is also apparent. "We think it's very important to build the undergraduates into the center," Sherman said, adding that he hoped his teaching and the center would introduce "research opportunities that may lead their interests to becoming criminologists." And undergraduates can learn about the discipline this spring in Sociology 233. The survey course will cover the causes and prevention of crime as well as criminal justice. SAS Dean Samuel Preston has expressed support for the center and noted its potential in attracting students in the discipline. "Crime is a very interesting social issue," Preston said. "The possibilities to converting students and public interest in the issue of crime... makes this an especially valuable field for us to feature." Besides serving as director of both the Fels Center and Criminology Center, Sherman is also President of the International Society of Criminology, which is known to be one of the top professional organizations in the field.

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