Kelly Spooner Zinna ’87
Major: Psychology
Profession: Forensic Psychologist
Home: Bethesda, MD

An Alumni Citation recipient at Reunion Weekend in 2004, Kelly Spooner Zinna is dedicating her career to giving survivors of violence the skills they need to transform tragedy into affirmation. She also works to enable schools and workplaces to identify and prevent potential issues of violence.

After graduating from St. Lawrence with a degree in psychology, Zinna earned her doctorate from the University of Denver. She has focused her clinical work and consulting efforts on forensic psychology, having been trained in that specialty by the FBI. She has conducted numerous psychological de-briefings for schools, corporations, law enforcement personnel, community members, and employees of the banking and retail industry. She was called to assist after the Columbine High School massacre, the crash of TWA flight 800 and the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Zinna is the founder of Violence Prevention and Intervention, a firm specializing in school violence prevention training and risk assessment. In 1999, she published After Columbine: A Schoolplace Violence Prevention Manual, based on lessons learned from being on-scene at the school and handling the aftermath. The scope of her work has been national, as a consultant in over 40 states, and international, as an expert voice for National Public Radio, CNN and many other media. As noted in her Alumni Citation, her success “is measured by routine—the routine of going to school and coming home again, the routine of feeling safe at work, the routine of fulfilling everyday responsibilities and being there for family and friends.”