Flag Lowering for Ben Steiner

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) flag will be lowered on Friday, March 1, 2019 in honor of UNO faculty member Benjamin (Ben) Steiner, Ph.D., who passed away on Jan. 22, 2019 at the age of 43 following a hard-fought battle with cancer.

Ben received his B.S. in Sociology from North Dakota State University in 1997 and worked as a youth counselor and juvenile probation officer in Idaho. Ben earned a M.A. in Criminal Justice from Boise State University in 2002 and received his Ph.D. in 2008 from the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati.

Ben joined the UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2012 as an associate professor and earned the rank of full professor in 2017. Prior to UNO, Steiner was a faculty member at the University of South Carolina.

Over the course of his short career, Ben became one of the nation’s leading scholars of institutional corrections. He was awarded the Young Scholar Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Juvenile Justice Section in 2009, the Distinguished New Scholar Award by the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Corrections and Sentencing in 2012, and the Outstanding Research Award by the UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2012. He amassed significant state and federal grants while producing two books, 60-plus journal articles, numerous book chapters, project reports and monographs.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 2, at the Thompson Alumni Center beginning at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials are asked to be provided to:

University of Nebraska Foundation
"The Dr. Benjamin Steiner Fellowship for Criminal Justice Professionals"
1010 Lincoln Mall, Suite 300
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508

or

The American Society of Criminology
"The Benjamin Steiner Outstanding Research Award"
1314 Kinnear Rd., Suite 212
Columbus, Nebraska 43212

Ben is survived by his wife, Emily (Wright), whom is also a UNO faculty member and whom he met when they were both doctoral students at the University of Cincinnati. He is also survived by their son, John; his parents, Kathy Jarolimek (Ken) of Bismarck North Dakota, and Stan Steiner (Joy) of Jackson, WY; brothers and sisters: Keith Jarolimek (Kim) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Kristy Owens (Eric) of Lincoln, North Dakota; Angie O'Hara (James) of Yuma Arizona; Matthew Jarolimek (Christy) of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lea Steiner; and Avi Steiner of Boise, Idaho; two grandmothers; many nieces, nephews,

To those who knew him well, Ben was funny, witty, passionate, and warm-hearted. In his spare time, he renovated his 100-year old home, planned family vacations, cooked great meals, exercised, and played card games. He enjoyed traveling to new places – preferably with water or mountains. Ben’s professional and personal life had great meaning and he will be deeply missed by all those who knew him.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Ben's loved ones during this difficult time.