Dr. David Taylor

Director, Institute for Civic Engagement

Email:

dtaylor@niagara.edu

Phone:

716.205.0074

After earning his B.A. in psychology at Castleton State College in 1990, Dr. David Taylor went on to earn an M.A. in criminal justice from Indiana University (1992) and a Ph.D. in criminology, law and society from the University of California, Irvine (1999). He taught at California State University, Long Beach, before taking a faculty position in Niagara University’s department of criminal justice in 1999.

At Niagara, Dr. Taylor teaches courses on homeland security, research methods, race and gender, and building crime resistant communities. His research on kinship caregiving has been published in several social work journals.

Dr. Taylor has dedicated much of his time at Niagara University toward identifying resources and implementing initiatives designed to assist the local community in such broad areas as crime prevention, disaster preparedness and neighborhood revitalization. Dr. Taylor has been the recipient of several nationally-recognized funding awards, totaling more than $2 million. 

As a resident of the City of Niagara Falls, Dr. Taylor is deeply committed to the revitalization of the city and to its resurrection as a vibrant economic, historical and cultural destination for Western New York. In 2011, he created and was appointed as the first director of Niagara’s Institute for Civic Engagement. In this new role, he will work to expand the university’s partnerships in the community and to strengthen community-based learning and research at the university.

Dr. Taylor recently received Niagara University’s prestigious Caritas Medal for his work and service in the community. He was also recognized as a Community Leader by the National Federation for Just Communities (of Western New York). 

Dr. Taylor is married to Christina Barauskas, and they have two little girls, Ava Grace and Olivia Mae.