|
 President
Bush will present Dr. Steven D. Walker, associate dean of the College of
Social Sciences and criminology professor at California State
University, Fresno, with one of the most prestigious awards in the
victimology/victim services profession.
Walker will receive the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime
Allied Professional Award for his pioneering work in victimology at
Fresno State. The presentation today in Washington, D.C., is part of
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
The award recognizes an individual from a specific discipline outside
the victim assistance field for service to victims and/or contributions
to the victimology field. Walker is the third person to receive the
award, which was inaugurated in 2006.
At Fresno State, Walker was instrumental in starting the first Victim
Services Certificate Program, Victim Services Summer Institute,
victimology major and joint doctorate program in criminology that will
have an emphasis on victimology.
Fresno State is considered one of the leading academic institutions in
this field. Its victimology program is housed within the Criminology
Department, one of the largest academic disciplines on campus. Its
approximately 1,000 manors study for a Bachelor of Science degree with
options in law enforcement, corrections and victimology.
A quarter of the students are pursuing the Victimology option. More than
2,000 Fresno State graduates in victimology have been employed in victim
service agencies throughout the U.S.
The commemoration of Crime Victims’ Rights Week began April 9 when the
Office for Victims of Crime announced awards it presents in eight
categories. The agency has presented awards since 1981.
While in the nation’s capital, Walker is scheduled to meet with Sens.
Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both D-Calif., and Rep. Jim Costa,
D-Fresno, a Fresno State alumnus.
For more information, contact Walker (on or after April 14) at
559.278.3013.
|
