Danielle Boisvert

Danielle Boisvert is an assistant professor of criminal justice. She joined the faculty at Penn State Harrisburg after receiving her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. She earned her master's degree in forensic science from The George Washington University and graduated with honors from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, in the bachelor of sciences in biology program.

Dr. Boisvert's key research interests include life-course and biosocial criminology and focuses on the examination of genetic and environmental influences on a variety of delinquent and criminal behaviors. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Boisvert worked for the University of Cincinnati as a distance learning facilitator in the online master's program in criminal justice, and from 2006 through 2009, as a teaching and/or graduate assistant in the division of criminal justice.

Dr. Boisvert has published work in many journals including the Journal of Affective Disorders, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Behavioral and Brain Functions.

Shaun L. Gabbidon

Shaun Gabbidon is a professor of criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg. Prior to this appointment, he served as an adjunct assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Baltimore and assistant professor of criminal justice at Coppin State College.

Dr. Gabbidon attained a doctorate in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Baltimore. He has served as a fellow at Harvard University's W. E. B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research.

In 2010 Dr. Gabbidon was named a distinguished professor by Penn State. The title of distinguished professor recognizes a select group of professors who have achieved exceptional accomplishments in teaching, research, and service. He has also received the Coramae R. Mann Award, from the American Society of Criminology's division on People of Color and Crime for his contributions to the study of race, crime, and justice.

Carl R. Garver

Carl R. Garver is an instructor in criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg. He received a master's degree in criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University and his doctorate in adult education from Penn State.

From 1978 to 1985, Dr. Garver served in the Texas Department of Public Safety as a Texas State Trooper assigned to the highway patrol and narcotics divisions, and from 1986 until 2007, he was employed by the Dauphin County (PA) District Attorney's Office, Criminal Investigation Division, having served as county detective, county detective sergeant, and acting chief county detective.

Don Hummer

Don Hummer is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg. He received a doctorate in social science-criminal justice from Michigan State University and a master's degree in administration of justice from Shippensburg University.

Dr. Hummer served as a co-consultant for a project to assess the current needs and technology uses for the Lawrence Police Department in Massachusetts. In 2001, Dr. Hummer also advised the Lowell Police Department's juvenile crime analysis unit (Massachusetts) in creating a database of criminal offenders and in interpreting the results using computer-based analysis software.

Dr. Hummer is a co-editor of The Handbook of Police Administration.

James M. Ruiz

James M. Ruiz received a doctorate in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University and a master's degree in criminal justice from Northeast Louisiana University.

He currently serves as an associate professor of criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg. Prior to this appointment, he served as an assistant professor of criminal justice at Westfield State College, a teaching fellow at Sam Houston State University, and an assistant professor of criminal justice at The University of Southwestern Louisiana.

From 1968 to 1985 Dr. Ruiz served as a police officer with the New Orleans Police Department, rising to the rank of platoon commander in New Orleans' Second District. He was also a platoon commander in the emergency medical services division from which he retired.

Dr. Ruiz's recognitions include the 2010 Regional Fellow Award from the Northeastern Association of Criminal Justice Sciences, 2010 Outstanding Mentor Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, past president­ of the Northeastern Association of Criminal Justice Sciences, past president­ of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Justice Educators, and the James A. Jordan Jr. Award for Teaching Excellence from Penn State Harrisburg in 2004. He currently serves as a research and data analysis consultant to the Mifflin County Police/Partnership Program.

He is the author of The Black Hood of the Ku Klux Klan and a co-editor of The Handbook of Police Administration. Dr. Ruiz is also on the editorial board of Criminal Justice and Law Review.

Barbara A. Sims

Barbara Sims is professor and chair of criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg, where she also serves as director of the Honors Program. Dr. Sims joined the faculty at Penn State Harrisburg in 1997. She earned a doctorate in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University and a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Her main teaching interests are criminological theory, research methods, and juvenile law and justice.

Dr. Sims has published more than 23 manuscripts in various peer-reviewed journals on criminal justice on topics including public opinions on crime and justice; the relationship between causal attribution and punishment; issues in institutional- and community-based corrections; domestic violence and sexual assault; and citizens' perceptions of their local communities and police. She is editor of Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients: Practical Implications for Institutional and Community Settings, and co-editor of the Handbook of Juvenile Justice: Theory and Practice.

Dr. Sims has also earned several grants and contracts in her career, most of which have involved both process and outcome evaluations of federal- and state-funded programs among criminal justice or related agencies.

Dr. Sims earned the Penn State Outreach Award in 2007, recognizing her for civic and/or community engagement with local criminal justice agencies. She has been recognized for quality teaching by both her peers and her students, winning the Penn State Harrisburg Teaching Award in 2006 and the James A. Jordan Jr. Award for Teaching Excellence from Penn State Harrisburg in 2002. In 2008, Dr. Sims was chosen by Penn State to participate in the CIC's (Committee on Institutional Cooperation) Academic Leadership Program. She served on the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Executive Board from 2004 to 2010 and has been actively involved in leadership positions for both the Northeastern Association of Criminal Justice Sciences and the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Educators Association.

Jennifer Sumner

Jennifer Sumner joined the faculty at Penn State Harrisburg as an assistant professor of criminal justice after completing her doctorate in criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine. She received a master of science in criminal justice at Rutgers University in New Jersey and bachelor of arts in sociology at Boston University.

Dr. Sumner's research interests include the theory and practice of punishment; correctional policy, practice, and culture; and gender, sexuality, and the criminal justice system. Her current research examines transgender inmate culture in California prisons. Dr. Sumner was twice awarded the Gil Geis Award for research excellence through the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at UCI.

Dr. Sumner has published in Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and the Journal of Contemporary Justice, and is co-author of two reports to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on two large-scale studies of violence and victimization in California prisons for which she served as project manager.