Photo courtesy of Steve Walker / The Collegian

Dean Walker named champion for work in victimology

All he wanted to do was focus on his private practice and teach part time. More than 20 years later, he was named the CSU Violence Prevention Champion.

At the CSU Higher Education Alcohol and Other Drugs Conference, Associate Dean of the college of social sciences Steven Walker, Ph.D, received the prestigious award of CSU Violence Prevention Champion. This award is presented annually to an administrator, faculty member or staff person who has served as a “champion” for alcohol and other drug initiatives on their campus, their community or organization, according to the California State University Web site.

“This award is the culmination of my fieldwork in victimology,â€Â Walker said. “It brings it all together.â€Â

Walker began teaching at California State University, Fresno on a part-time basis in 1984. His intention was to teach on a limited basis because he wanted to focus on other career opportunities.

“I had taught a little before coming to Fresno State and I really enjoyed it,â€Â Walker said. “I decided to teach sparingly because I enjoy raising critical questions.â€Â

Walker began his teaching career with an emphasis on criminology. Over the years, his focus turned to victimology, a specific field of criminology that studies how victims interact with the courts, their attackers and other groups in society.

In his 25 years at Fresno State, Walker has received numerous awards and made numerous contributions to the department.

In 1985, Walker helped start the first Victim Services Certificate Program. In 1989, he also assisted in the creation of the Victim Services Summer Institute, a four-week program that provides knowledge, foundation and skills needed to work with crime victims, according to the Fresno State criminology department Web site.

In an article published by The Collegian in April 2008, Walker spoke about the summer institute.

“It allowed us to provide courses to those who could not take them before,â€Â Walker said. “People from Canada and Mexico also come to the program. We even had a student from Italy a few years ago. It is the most crucial program we have started.â€Â

Walker also helped create the first victimology major at Fresno State.

Although, Walker said he pushed for the creation of the program, he said it could not have come to fruition without the help of many others.

Although Walker has accomplished many things at Fresno State, he feels that he received the violence prevention award for reasons other than his accomplishments.

“I probably got the award because we have graduated 2,000 victimology graduates,â€Â Walker said. “Those graduates are working at 20 percent of all victims agencies throughout the U.S.â€Â

Toni Amezcua, administration assistant for the college of social sciences and colleague of Walker, said he was not surprised to hear that Walker had been named as the CSU Violence Prevention Champion.

“He is very deserving of the award and dedicated to his profession in victimology,â€Â Amezcua said in an e-mail interview with The Collegian. “I think he was given the award because of all his hard work and knowledge.â€Â

Walker said that he is grateful to have stumbled upon the field of victimology and that everything he has accomplished could not have been done without the continued efforts of those around him.

“I was in the right place at the right time,â€Â Walker said. “The field was just starting. I guess I just got lucky.â€Â