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IN 1994, the British Journal of Criminology declared that Marvin E. Wolfgang was "the most influential criminologist in the English-speaking world." He was a pioneer in theoretical and empirical criminology, and he has had a lasting influence on criminal justice policy. His studies on homicide, delinquency, and violence, by the clarity of their conception, the comprehensiveness and meticulousness of their research, and the reliability and validity of their findings, have established the basis for modern criminological research. Such a comprehensive scientific approach to crime had rarely before been undertaken. He sought and received some of the first funding for large-scale research in the field. His research on delinquency and violence has been replicated in countries all over the world, so that one can truly say that his influence goes well beyond "the English-speaking world."
Marvin Eugene Wolfgang was born in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, into a Pennsylvania Dutch family. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was raised by grandparents who encouraged him to go to college, and he was the first of his family to do so. After a year at the Pennsylvania State University, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was sent to North Africa and Italy during World War II. He was felled by heat stroke at the Battle of Monte Cassino; nonetheless, Italy became a lifelong love. On his return from military service, he finished his degrees on the G.I. Bill, first at Dickinson College, where he received a bachelor of arts degree (1948), and then at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded the master of arts degree (1950) and the Ph.D. (1955). He first taught at Lebanon Valley College, in Annville, Pennsylvania, and then, in 1952, as an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1955 he became a member of the faculty at Penn, where he taught and did research until pancreatic cancer ended his career in an untimely fashion in 1998. Thorsten Seilin was the supervisor for his Ph.D. degree, and he and Thorsten continued to collaborate until Thorsten's death in 1994. The bond between these two men was akin to a father-son relationship. In 1957 he married Lenora Poden, who later became a professor of French at Eehigh University. She survives him,...