Dr. Donald (Don) L. Beahm was born and raised in Minden, Nebraska. His father, Merle Beahm (deceased in 2005), worked for the Department of Agriculture and was a decorated World War II Veteran, and his mother Mary was a one-room country school teacher, who turned 96 last summer. He has two sisters, Linda (deceased) and Bonnie, and one brother, Merlin. He is married to Renee Beahm and they have two adult children, Tonya Jolley and Jeramie Beahm, both of whom live and work in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Don received his B.S. in Political Science from Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, and he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where his studies focused on Normative Political Theory, Public Law, American Institutions, and Empirical Theory and Methodology. He was a Lecturer and Adjunct Professor of Political Science for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Doane College in Nebraska between 1989-2001 prior to coming to Dowling College in 2001. As an Associate Professor of Political Science he taught Political Theory, Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties and American Politics at Dowling College, and served as the faculty advisor to the Pre-Law Society. He was elected and served as the Executive Chair of Faculty from 2007-2009. He also served as Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences during the fall of 2013.
His book, Conceptions of and Corrections to Majoritarian Tyranny, was published with Lexington Books in 2002. Dr. Beahm has presented numerous papers at conferences, and is currently working on a book titled The Deliberative Process of Establishing Rights. He enjoys spending time with his family, traveling (has been to 49 states and eight foreign countries), reading, astronomy, listening to music and playing his guitar.