Rick Lovell (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1985) is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice. He joined the faculty in Fall 1986 with primary teaching responsibilities in the Criminal Justice Program. Professor Lovell has had a variety of work and research experiences in the criminal justice system. His current research centers on the use of research information as a basis for decisionmaking and policy development in criminal justice, federal and state efforts affecting at risk inner city youth, and decision-making in juvenile justice agencies as related to disparities and over representation of minority youth. His primary concentrations are organizations, administration, and corrections.

Dr. Lovell has been involved in a number of research projects funded by agencies such as the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance (OJA), and others at various levels of government. These research projects have included, among others: evaluation of Operation Weed and Seed in 22 cities, evaluation of gang prevention and intervention programs in 33 cities, ssessment of the extent of minority overrepresentation in juvenile justice processing - Wisconsin's federally mandated study on Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC), evaluation of Stepping Up — a specialized program for female inmates with co-occurring behavioral and diagnosed mental disorders in Wisconsin's maximum security institution for girls, and evaluation of FODATP — first time drug offender alternative to prison program operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Dr. Lovell has been involved as a consortium member of the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence since its inception. He and Dr. Carl Pope are co-principal investigators of the Milwaukee Hamilton Fish project involving the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Public Schools. They are also the research partners with Milwaukee Public Schools on a new NIJ funded project aimed at greater integration of law enforcement into school safety.

Dr. Lovell recently co-authored an edited book on criminal justice research and is presently working on a book under contract with Allyn-Bacon Publishers. He recently co-authored a major synthesis of the DMC literature for OJJDP with Dr. Pope. He is author of numerous books, book chapters, articles, reports of research, and other publications.

Dr. Lovell has served as consultant to varied organizations and agencies, both public and private. Further, Dr. Lovell is co-coordinator of the California Department of Corrections Leadership Institute, providing an extensive in-service educational experience to the Department's upper level leaders.