UW News

July 17, 2015

Two UW faculty members named to Justice Department Science Advisory Board

News and Information

Two University of Washington faculty members have been appointed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs Science Advisory Board.

Sociology professor Robert Crutchfield was named chair of the board’s justice system transparency and accountability subcommittee, and Alexes Harris, an associate professor of sociology, was named a new board member. The 25-member board, which advises the Office of Justice Programs on research, statistics and grant programs, is made up of leading scholars and experts in sociology, criminology, statistics, and criminal and juvenile justice.

Crutchfield’s work focuses on labor markets and crime, race, ethnicity and the criminal justice system. A fellow of the American Society of Criminology and a UW Distinguished Teaching award winner, he has served on numerous national panels and committees and is the author of “Get a Job: Labor Markets, Economic Opportunity, and Crime.” Crutchfield is currently on the board of directors of The Sentencing Project, an organization advocating for criminal justice reform, and was previously a juvenile probation officer and a parole agent for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.

Harris studies social stratification and racial and ethnic disparities and how societal institutions impact people’s opportunities in life. Her current research projects include a study of monetary sanctions imposed on prisoners and an upcoming co-edited book about the experiences of women of color who are on tenure tracks at research universities.

Other new members of the 2015 Science Advisory Board are:

  • Jim Bueermann, Police Foundation
  • Nicole Allen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Anthony Braga, Rutgers University
  • Sue Burton, Florida Department of Law Enforcement
  • Jeffrey A. Butts, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
  • Elsa Chen, Santa Clara University
  • Gregory Herek, University of California, Davis
  • Gary LaFree, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Ojmarrh Mitchell, University of South Florida
  • Samuel L. Myers, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
  • Alex R. Piquero, University of Texas at Dallas
  • Lisa Poupart, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
  • Jerry Ratcliffe, Temple University
  • Beth E. Richie, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Ben Saunders, Medical University of South Carolina
  • Avelardo Valdez, University of Southern California
  • John Wetzel, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

A full list of board members is available on the Office of Justice Programs’ website.