Braungart Family Biographical Sketch:
Richard (Dick) Braungart is Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and International Relations in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University (SU). During the last 30 years, he has been teaching courses at SU in political sociology, international political psychology, life course and generations as well as collective behavior and social movements, recently coordinating a large entry-level team-taught Maxwell School course entitled "Critical Issues for the United States." He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in 1969 and taught at Penn State and the University of Maryland before coming to Syracuse. In 1970, he served as a Research Director for the President's Commission on Campus Unrest (Scranton Commission) in Washington, D.C.; he was a cofounder of the American Sociological Association Section on Political Sociology in 1982; and from 1994-1998 was President of the Committee on Political Sociology, an international organization jointly affiliated with the International Sociological Association and the International Political Science Association. He is the author and editor of thirteen books and monographs and has published over two hundred articles, chapters, and reviews on numerous topics. His publications have been translated into many languages, including French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and others.
The Braungart family home is outside Syracuse in Manlius, New York. For over 38 years, Dick has been married to Margaret (Peg), who received her Ph.D. degree in Psychology from SU in 1980. Peg is currently Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York. She served as the Chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Human Studies (1991-1998), SUNY Upstate Medical University, where she has been an active faculty member for over two decades. Dick and Peg have collaborated on many research projects, traveled to many lands, and written many articles and books together, but their greatest creations are their three wonderful daughters--Julie, Katie, and Beth.
Oldest daughter, Julie, graduated from SU in 1987 with a B.S. degree in Biology and Psychology, earned a Ph.D. degree in Psychology from Penn State in 1992, and married Joe Rieker (Ph.D. degree in Engineering, Penn State, 1993). Julie and Joe live in South Bend, Indiana, where Julie is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Joe works in the research and trouble-shooting divisions of Bosch and is an expert on auto braking systems. Julie and Joe are the happy parents of Ryan (age 7) and Megan (age 4).
Middle daughter, Katie, graduated from SU in 1995 with a B.A. degree in English and Textual Studies (Phi Beta Kappa). While at SU, Katie studied at both the Florence and London DIPA Programs and is very much the world traveler in the family. After interesting jobs in NYC, Nantucket, and San Francisco, Katie returned to Nantucket where she met and married Jonathan Hemingway. Katie and Jon are living on Nantucket Island, working in the house construction and landscaping business.
Youngest daughter, Beth, is a 2000 graduate of SU, with a B.S. in Psychology (Phi Beta Kappa). During her senior year, she was selected to be one of the Remembrance Scholars in honor of the 35 SU students who died in the Pan Am 103 crash on December 21, 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Beth is currently a doctoral student at Penn State University, specializing in developmental psychology and aging. She recently completed and successfully defended her masters thesis in the Spring 2002.
See links to Margaret, Julie, Katie, and Beth's websites from Home Page.