Dr. Brenda Sims Blackwell joined the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology as chair in July, 2014.  She earned her B.S. in criminal justice from Northern Arizona University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Oklahoma. She has served on the faculties of Pennsylvania State University and Georgia State University, leaving the latter after 15 years of service. Her research broadly focuses on women and crime, with an emphasis on gender differences in offending and differences in criminal justice responses to male and female offenders. She is interested in examining and elaborating traditional and newtheoretical perspectives to determine their relevance to female offending. Her articles appear in publications such as Criminology, Deviant Behavior, and the Journal of Criminal Justice.

Brenda has collaborated on projects examining the commercial sexual exploitation of children, with a specific focus on examining responses to this issue in Georgia and reviewing literature to determine how other jurisdictions respond. These efforts were funded by the National Institute of Justice and through the Governor’s Office for Children and Families.

Brenda is dedicated to working with students. She currently chairs a student-awards committee for the American Society of Criminology and has several publications that explore the impact of academic advisement on career outcomes and job satisfaction among criminal justice students and graduates.