June 11, 2015, NY, NY – Jeff Butts, Director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College, has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Science Advisory Board. The 25-member board advises OJP on the areas of social science and statistics for the purpose of enhancing the overall impact and performance of OJP programs. Among the board members are leading research scholars and practitioners in criminology, statistics, sociology, and criminal justice fields.
“It’s a real honor to be appointed to the Science Advisory Board, especially at this time when the Department of Justice is enhancing the scientific focus of its programs and grant-making,” said Butts.
Butts work focuses on discovering and improving policies and programs for youth involved in the justice system. He has published two books, dozens of reports for the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies, and articles in journals such as the American Journal of Criminal Law, Crime and Delinquency, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Judicature, Law & Policy, and the Annual Review of Public Health. Previously, he was a research fellow with Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, director of the Program on Youth Justice at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, and senior research associate at the National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh.
Since 1990, Butts has managed more than $17 million of research projects and worked with policymakers and justice practitioners in 28 states and several other countries. His research career began in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he earned the Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. He is also an adjunct member of the doctoral faculty in the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the Department of Criminal Justice at John Jay.
According to the OJP website, “The advisory board will provide an extra-agency review of and recommendations for OJP research, statistics, and grant programs, ensuring the programs and activities are scientifically sound and pertinent to policymakers and practitioners.”
Members of the 2015 Science Advisory Board include:
- Edward Mulvey, University of Pittsburgh (Chair)
- Nicole Allen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Anthony Braga, Rutgers University
- Jeffrey A. Butts, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- Elsa Chen, Santa Clara University
- Robert Crutchfield, University of Washington
- Alexes Harris, University of Washington
- Gregory Herek, University of California
- Gary LaFree, University of Maryland-College Park
- James Lepkowski, University of Michigan
- Colin Loftin, University of Albany, SUNY
- Tracey Meares, Yale University
- Ojmarrh Mitchell, University of South Florida
- Samuel Myers, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis
- Alex Piquero, University of Texas at Dallas
- Lisa Poupart, University of Wisconsin Green Bay
- Jerry Ratcliffe, Temple University
- Beth Richie, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Rick Rosenfeld, University of Missouri-St. Louis
- Ben Saunders, Medical University of South Carolina
- Avelardo Valdez, University of Southern California
- David Weisburd, George Mason University
- John Wetzel, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
About the Science Advisory Board:
The Science Advisory Board will provide the office of the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) with valuable advice in the areas of social science and statistics for the purpose of enhancing the overall impact and performance of its programs and activities in the areas of criminal and juvenile justice. The Board will help develop long-range plans, advise on program development, and recommend guidance to assist in OJP's adherence to the highest levels of scientific rigor as appropriate. The Board will provide an important base of contact with the criminal and juvenile justice academic and practitioner communities.
The Board is a discretionary advisory committee established under the authority of the Attorney General of the Department of Justice in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended 5 U.S.C. App. 2.
The Research and Evaluation (R&E) Center is an applied research organization that provides members of the academic community at John Jay College with opportunities to respond to the research needs of justice practitioners in New York City, New York State, and the nation. The R&E Center provides direct assistance to agencies in the justice system, designs and carries out studies of innovative strategies to prevent and reduce crime, and works to improve the effectiveness of interventions at the individual and community level.
About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.
