Deborah A. Temkin, Ph.D. (aka Deborah Temkin Cahill; born 1985) is an American child development and prevention research scientist, specializing in bullying prevention, school climate, and connecting education policy to healthy youth development. She was the Research and Policy Coordinator for Bullying Prevention Initiatives at the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

from 2010 to 2012, where she was charged with coordinating the Obama administration's

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an i ...

prevention efforts, including launching StopBullying.gov.Chandler, Michael Alison (August 8, 2012)
Bullying-prevention official Temkin nominated for Heyman medal
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. She was a finalist for the 2012 "Call to Service Medal" for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for her work at the Department. Temkin is currently the vice president for youth development and education research at

Child Trends Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center based in Bethesda, Maryland that conducts research on children, children's families, child well-being, and factors affecting children's lives. History Child Trends was founded in 1979 an ...

Early life and education

Temkin grew up in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black

ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

, where she was reportedly a victim of bullying while she was in middle school. Temkin describes the bullying she faced as having started over a feud over her middle school newspaper, which quickly escalated into relational, verbal, and physical bullying including social exclusion by a majority of her school-mates.

Rachel Simmons Rachel Simmons is an American author of the book ''Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls'' published in 2002. () Background Simmons graduated from Vassar College and was a Rhodes Scholar at Lincoln College, Oxford where she b ...

(March 10, 2011)
Q&A with Emerging Leader & Federal Anti-Bullying Official Deborah Temkin
. Rachelsimmons.com In newspaper and radio interviews, Temkin reported that her personal experiences with bullying, and particularly her school's lack of response inspired her to understand bullying and what could be done to prevent it.Temin, Tom (May 15, 2012
Former victim now leads government's bullying prevention program
' Federal News Radio''. Temkin graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely fol ...

in 2007, where she majored in Psychology and Education Policy, and then went to

The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

where she received an M.A. in Education Theory and Policy and both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies. Temkin was a Prevention and Methodology Pre-Doctoral Fellow through the Pennsylvania State University's Prevention and Methodology Centers, and her research focused on bullying, adolescent friendship networks, and education policy.

U.S. Department of Education and StopBullying.gov

In November 2009, Temkin attended the International Bullying Prevention Association Conference in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

, where

Kevin Jennings Kevin Brett Jennings (born May 8, 1963) is an American educator, author, and administrator. He was the assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education from July 6, 2009 – June 2011. J ...

, then Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, was the keynote speaker. Temkin reportedly went up to Jennings following his speech and asked to work for him. Jennings offered Temkin an unpaid internship, which she began in January, 2010. During the Summer of 2010, Jennings charged Temkin with planning the first annua
Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit
After the successful event, Temkin was hired on into the first federal position dedicated to bullying prevention. As attention to bullying grew in the fall of 2010, after a string of bullying related suicides, Jennings and Temkin began working closely with the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

to plan the first ever White House Conference on Bullying Prevention and to design and launch the government's central repository on bullying prevention, StopBullying.gov. Temkin also began work on several other initiatives, including closely managing the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention, a coalition of 9 Federal departments, and launching research projects with the CDC and internally at the Department of Education to understand the definition of bullying and to understand the scope and impact of anti-bullying laws. After Jennings left the Department of Education in July, 2011, Temkin continued to lead the bullying prevention initiatives, organizing the second and third annual Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summits in 2011 and 2012 and overseeing the relaunch of StopBullying.gov in April, 2012. During this time she also helped coordinate a partnership between the Department of Education and the

Ad Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governm ...

to launch a public service campaign targeted towards parents on the need to become "more than a bystander.". She also worked to support the release of a teacher training module on bullying. Temkin was also a featured speaker at several events, including th
White House Conference on LGBT Families
and a Townhall for Senator Frank Lautenberg as well as a trusted media source, quoted in several articles in major publications and appearing on radio and television programming.Kathleen Dunn Show
April 24, 2012,

Wisconsin Public Radio Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the ''Ideas Network'' and the '' NPR News & Music Network,'' as well as the ''All Classi ...

. In March, 2012 Temkin was named a finalist for the "Call to Service" medal of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, recognizing the outstanding federal service of those under 35 years old.

Current position

Following her departure from the Department of Education, Temkin worked from 2012 to 2014 at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights where she launched a new bullying prevention initiative, Project SEATBELT (Safe Environments Achieved Through Bullying prevention, Engagement, Leadership, & Teaching respect). Temkin is now the vice president for youth development and education research at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temkin, Deborah 1985 births Living people Bullying