Schildkraut is leading scholar on school and mass shootings and associate professor at SUNY Oswego
New interim executive director takes reins amid dramatic increase in gun violence across the nation
Albany, NY — The Rockefeller Institute of Government is excited to announce State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego Associate Professor Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut as the new Interim Executive Director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium. Schildkraut will lead the Consortium and its more than 50 interdisciplinary gun violence researchers across eight states and territories as the nation confronts a renewed surge in gun violence.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gun deaths in the US jumped 15 percent in 2020 over 2019. While a ban on federal gun violence research funding was recently lifted, state and regional research efforts remain critical to understanding the causes and consequences of firearm-involved homicides, suicides, accidents, and injuries.
As interim executive director, Schildkraut will continue to expand the Consortium’s network of researchers, connecting research from across a range of disciplines to produce actionable policy recommendations for policymakers.
A national expert on school and mass shootings, Schildkraut’s work focuses on the effectiveness of policies aimed at prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery. Since 2018, she has conducted the largest study in the nation on the effects of lockdown drills on school participants and skill mastery, and her research and expertise are regularly sought after by local, national, and international news outlets, including CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others.
“We are enormously excited to invite Jaclyn Schildkraut, a leading example of tireless scholarship within the SUNY system, to lead the Consortium,” said Rockefeller Institute Executive Director of Research Laura Schultz. “Dr. Schildkraut has been involved in the Consortium since day one and no one is better equipped to advance its leading role in providing the research-based insights that form the foundation of good policy.”
A widely cited and accomplished gun violence scholar, Schildkraut will lead the Consortium’s ongoing efforts to uncover and communicate to policymakers and the public evidence-based, data-driven policy recommendations to address gun violence. Schildkraut is the co-author of Mass Shootings: Media, Myths and Realities (2016); Columbine, 20 Years Later and Beyond: Lessons from Tragedy (2019); and Lockdown Drills: Connecting Research and Best Practices for School Administrators, Teachers, and Parents (2022, forthcoming). She served as the editor on two additional volumes—Mass Shootings in America: Understanding the Debate, Causes, and Responses (2018) and Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law (3rd edition; 2022, forthcoming). She has also published more than 30 scholarly articles on topics related to mass and school shootings that appear in journals such as the American Journal of Criminal Justice, Homicide Studies, Journal of School Violence, Victims & Offenders, School Psychology Review, Educational Policy, Security Journal and Crime Prevention and Community Safety.
About the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium
The Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium is a coalition of gun violence researchers and practitioners from eight states and territories (CT, DE, MA, NJ, NY, PA, PR, RI) that aims to inform policymakers and the public by providing evidence-based, data-driven policy recommendations to disrupt the cycle of firearm-involved homicides, suicides, and injuries. The Consortium approaches the study of gun violence with the belief that gun violence is a public policy problem, state and local governments are key in the fight to reduce firearm-involved deaths and injuries, and understanding the nuances of state law- and policy-making is central to effectively combat gun violence.