Keeping up with our alumni
JOHN L. WORRALL (’95)
John L. Worrall received his M.S. in Criminal Justice from WSU in 1995. He went on to complete his Ph.D. in Political Science in 1999, when Criminal Justice was still part of the Political Science Department. His first academic position was with the Department of Criminal Justice at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). He was promoted to associate professor there in September of 2004.
In 2006, Dr. Worrall left CSUSB and took a position as an associate professor in the Criminology Program at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). He was attracted to UTD because of its decision to launch a Ph.D. in Criminology, which in 2008 accepted its first cohort of graduate students. That was also the year Dr. Worrall was promoted to full professor.
In 2010, he assumed the role of Program Head and has been working in that capacity ever since. During his tenure as Program Head, he has presided over a number of strategic hires, worked closely with his colleagues to put the program “on the map,” and in collaboration with others, developed both online (MS in criminology) and executive programs (MS in Justice Administration and Leadership).
Though administration has presented challenges from a research productivity standpoint, Dr. Worrall continues to work on a variety of projects. He continues to publish journal articles and book chapters on a variety of topics, most with a policing focus. His most recent work looks at the effects of police field training on trainee performance. He also just wrapped up a meta-analysis on the relationship between police levels and crime. In addition, he serves as a research partner with the city of Frisco, Texas, on a BJA-funded “Smart Policing” initiative project.
Dr. Worrall also continues to enjoy writing (and revising) books. The projects he enjoys the most are Crime Control in America: What Works? (3rd edition, Pearson 2015), Criminal Procedure: From First Contact to Appeal (5th edition, Pearson 2015), and, with Larry Siegel, Introduction to Criminal Justice (14th edition, Cengage 2014) and Essentials of Criminal Justice (9th edition, Cengage 2015). He also continues to serve as Editor of the journal Police Quarterly, having held that position since 2008.
On the personal side of things, John and his wife of 18 years, Sabrina, enjoy spending time with their kids (Dylan, 12, and Jordyn, 10) and traveling. They greatly miss all the wonderful northwest outdoor offerings (even those in Pullman!) and, as such, travel far and wide to recreate—and, even more importantly, escape the searing Texas summer heat. They spend a great deal of time in the Durango, Silverton, and Telluride areas of Colorado, skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. They also enjoy traveling to the gulf beaches and, whenever possible, getting back to Seattle and other great places in Washington State, where most of their family continues to reside and “home” will forever be.
ARIF AKGUL (’07)
WSU’s motto, “World Class: Face to Face,” has become a reality when Dr. Nicholas Lovrich made a visit to Turkey as a keynote speaker at the 5th Annual International Symposium on Children at Risk and in Need of Protection in Antalya, Turkey in November 2013. The conference was organized by the Turkish National Police Academy. One of our WSU alumni, Dr. Arif Akgul, has been working for the Turkish National Police Academy since his days at WSU. He is an associate professor and a successful researcher, producing important reports, such as the Turkish Drug Report for the Turkish Ministry of Interior. Pictured to the right are Drs. Nicholas Lovrich and Arif Akgul at the aforementioned symposium.
http://www.greaterspokane.org/press-releases-and-news/958-priority-spokane-awarded-200000-grant.html
The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and the Criminal Justice News like to keep up with our alumni! One way is by featuring news from our alumni in this newsletter to see what they have been up to since graduating from WSU. We would love to hear from you, as well! Please send information about your life and/or career experiences directly to Azra Rasic. Feel free to include a photo of yourself. We look forward to hearing from you!