Beaver graduated from Ohio University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology, and received his Master of Surgery in criminal justice in 2001 from the University of Cincinnati. He went on to receive his Doctor of Philosophy in criminal justice, also from the University of Cincinnati, in 2006.
Beaver joined the faculty of Northern Kentucky University in 2006 as an instructor in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice. That same year, he joined Florida State as an assistant professor, and became an associate professor in 2010. Beaver"s research focuses on the field of biosocial criminology, including studies on the causes of antisocial behaviors, such as delinquency, which he has said has both genetic and environmental causes.
Beaver is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Drug Issues.
