Steven Chermak

Steven M. Chermak is a Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University. His research focuses on terrorism, school shootings, mass shootings, hate crimes, and media coverage of crime. He has developed critical databases like the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and Extremist Cybercrime Database (ECCD) to analyze patterns in extremist violence and cybercrime.

Dr. Chermak’s work explores domestic extremism through empirical analysis of lone wolf attacks, terrorist plot characteristics, and ideologically motivated cyberattacks. His research also examines the social organization of radicalization and the nexus between terrorism and financial crimes. Current projects include databases on school shootings and cyberterrorism incidents.

His publications span journals such as The Annual Review of Criminology, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Justice Quarterly. Funded by Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Justice, and Michigan State Police, his work bridges criminology, national security, and digital forensics.