Susan Sorenson, Ph.D.
- Professor, Department of Social Policy and Practice
Susan B. Sorenson, Ph.D., has just joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Sorenson came to Penn after 20 years at the UCLA School of Public Health. Beginning in 1986, she taught a graduate course in family and sexual violence – the first violence prevention course in a school of public health in the nation.
Dr. Sorenson, with more than 100 publications to her credit, has published widely in the epidemiology and prevention of violence, including the areas of homicide, suicide, sexual assault, child abuse, battering, and firearms. A primary focus of her work is how gender, ethnicity, and nativity are related to risk of violence.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Sorenson serves on the board of directors and advisory boards of local community-based organizations, state government agencies, and university injury prevention centers. She also was a member of the National Academy of Science’s Panel on Research on Violence Against Women, a consultant to UNICEF’s May 2000 report on Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls, and a member of the advisory panel for the 2001 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Violence.