Rate My Professor Stephen Nawrocki

Stephen P. Nawrocki is the Sease Distinguished Professor of Forensic Studies and Professor of Biology at the University of Indianapolis, where he has served as a tenured professor of biology and anthropology since joining full-time in 1991. He directs the Osteology Laboratory at the Archaeology & Forensics Laboratory, which he founded in 1990, and leads the Master of Science in Human Biology program. Nawrocki also holds an appointment as Honorary Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He earned a PhD in Anthropology and an MA in Anthropology from the State University of New York at Binghamton, along with a BA in Anthropology and Psychology from the University of Maine at Orono. One of only 60 board-certified forensic anthropologists in North America as a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Nawrocki is recognized as one of the top forensic anthropologists in the Midwest.

Nawrocki's research focuses on the analysis and identification of human skeletons, environmental processes affecting buried and scattered bones (taphonomy), and evidence recovery from outdoor crime scenes through forensic archaeology. His expertise spans skeletal biology, human taphonomy, osteoarchaeology, skeletal age estimation, biostatistics, and historic cemeteries. He has consulted for law enforcement on hundreds of human remains cases across Indiana and Illinois, including high-profile investigations, and has delivered lectures at numerous educational seminars nationwide. Nawrocki has authored several books and book chapters, such as contributions to "The Analysis of Burned Human Remains" (2015) and "Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton", and published articles in leading journals including the Journal of Forensic Sciences ("Using Accumulated Degree-Days to Estimate the Postmortem Interval from Decomposed Human Remains," 2005, with Megyesi and Haskell; "Reconsidering the Auricular Surface as an Indicator of Age at Death," 2004) and Florida Anthropologist. His contributions have advanced methodologies in postmortem interval estimation and skeletal analysis, influencing forensic anthropology practices. At the University of Indianapolis, he received the Teacher of the Year award in 1999 and the Brooker Teaching Award for the Sciences in 1993.