Dr. Ram A. Cnaan is a Professor and Director, Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice. He is the faculty founder of the Goldring Reentry Initiative which works to reduce recidivism. He is also a Global Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University Graduate Institute of Peace, South Korea. Professor Cnaan served as president of ARNOVA (Association for Research on nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary action). He is the originator of the first practice doctorate degree in social work (DSW) which is now in its 15th year and replicated by more than 46 USA and 17 Chinese universities. He is now chairing the innovative practice doctorate degree in nonprofit administration (DNPA) at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Cnaan received his doctorate degree from the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, and his B.S.W. and M.S.W. from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals on a variety of social issues and serves on the editorial boards of ten academic journals. He is the author or editor of ten academic books including: The Other Philadelphia Story: How Local Congregations Support Quality of Life in Urban America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006), Cases in innovative nonprofits: Organizations that make a difference (Sage, 2014), and Handbook of community movement and local organizations in the 21st century (Springer, 2018). He is considered an international expert in the areas of faith-based social organizations, social innovation, volunteering, prisoners’ reentry, community intervention, and social policy. He lectures widely and teaches regularly in four countries.
