Susan B. Sorenson

Susan B. Sorenson is a distinguished interdisciplinary scholar who has made landmark contributions to violence prevention research and public health policy. With academic training spanning epidemiology, sociology, and psychology, she earned her B.S. in sociology and psychology from Iowa State University, M.S. in psychology from Illinois Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Cincinnati, followed by postdoctoral work in psychiatric epidemiology at UCLA School of Public Health. At the University of Pennsylvania, she served as Professor of Social Policy, Professor of Health & Societies, and Faculty Director of the Ortner Center on Violence & Abuse for over a decade before taking early retirement in 2021. Her groundbreaking research helped establish violence against women as a public health issue and pioneered the study of firearms as a consumer product. With over 150 publications, her work spans epidemiology and prevention of violence, including homicide, suicide, sexual assault, child abuse, and firearms. Her expertise has been sought at the highest levels, serving on President Clinton's National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women, the National Academy of Science's Panel on Research on Violence Against Women, and the Biden Foundation's advisory council on violence against women. In 1991, she co-founded the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles, which operated for 25 years.