Youth violence prevention advocate, author Deborah Prothrow-Stith to deliver Charles V. Willie lecture

Thursday, February 15, 2007, By News Staff

Youth violence prevention advocate, author Deborah Prothrow-Stith to deliver Charles V. Willie lectureFebruary 15, 2007Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

Nationally renowned youth violence prevention expert and public health pioneer Deborah Prothrow-Stith will deliver the fifth annual Charles V. Willie Distinguished Lecture on March 8 in Watson Theater, in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center. Her lecture, titled “Combating the Deadly Consequences of Violence and Our Youth,” will begin at 4 p.m.

Associate dean and professor of public health practice at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Prothrow-Stith was the first to define violence as a public health problem. A former physician in inner-city Boston, she grew tired of “stitching people up and sending them out” of emergency rooms. Prothrow-Stith set her sights on public health, and became a chief spokesperson for the national movement to prevent violence. She supports the application of rigorous scientific methods to strengthen prevention programs and developed and wrote “The Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents,” which paved the way for violence prevention curricula for schools and communities. She is the founding director of the Division of Public Health Practice at HSPH.

Prothrow-Stith is the author of “Deadly Consequences: How Violence is Destroying Our Teenage Population and a Plan to Begin Solving the Problem” (HarperCollins, 1991). It was the first book to present violence as a public health issue to a mass audience. She co-authored “Murder Is No Accident: Understanding and Preventing Youth Violence in America” (Jossey-Bass, 2003). Her latest book, “Sugar and Spice, No Longer Nice: How We Can Stop Girls’ Violence” (Jossey-Bass, 2006), addresses the emerging problem of violence among girls and young women.

A graduate of Spelman College and Harvard Medical School, Prothrow-Stith has received 10 honorary degrees, the 1993 World Health Day Award, the 1989 Secretary of Health and Human Service Award and a presidential appointment to the National Commission on Crime Control and Prevention.

The Division of Student Affairs founded the lecture series in 2003. It is named for Charles V. Willie, Syracuse University’s first African American professor, who served as SU vice president of student affairs from 1972-74. Willie taught sociology at SU from 1950-74. The purpose of the series is to invite leading scholars in the field of higher education to share their expertise with the SU and broader communities. Willie returned to the SU campus in 2006 as the series’ featured speaker.

“It is an honor to host Dr. Prothrow-Stith for the Willie Lecture this year,” says Barry L. Wells, senior vice president and dean of student affairs. “Her innovative and passionate pursuit of violence prevention makes her an excellent role model for us as we continue the work to make our environments safe for young people. Our participation in such programs as the White Ribbon Campaign, Mentors in Violence Prevention and Take Back the Night are just some of the ways we strive to end the violence in our community. This lecture serves as yet another opportunity for us to gain understanding that can help us reach out into the world and create solutions to the very real problem of youth violence, on campus and beyond.”

The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception in the Light Work Gallery will follow. Paid parking is available in Booth Garage. For more information or to R.S.V.P. for the event, contact Kelly Lux at 443-9153 or kalux@syr.edu.