Distinguished Alumni
Dr. Nancy Rodriguez
Awarded 2024
Irvine, California
Former Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and decorated professor in criminology Nancy Rodriguez stands as a prime representation of Sam Houston State University’s prestigious College of Criminal Justice.
Since graduating from the program in 1992, this distinguished alumna has gone on to earn her doctorate in political science from Washington State University, log over 20 years of experience in the classroom and earn a presidential appointment from former President Barack Obama in 2015.
The NIJ serves as the research, development and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Justice and seeks to improve knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. Several faculty members and graduate students in SHSU’s College of Criminal Justice have been awarded competitive NIJ fellowships to support their research and dissertations in the fields of corrections and forensic science. Rodriguez led the institute until the conclusion of the Obama Administration.
Immediately after earning her doctorate in 1998, she joined the faculty in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University, where she served for 17 years as professor and associate dean. In 2017, she stepped back into her role as professor in the Department of Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine’s School of Ecology.
Throughout her illustrious career, Rodriguez has garnered multiple awards for her research, including her recognition of Fellow by the American Society of Criminology, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Division on People of Color and Crime and the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology. She was also named the Outstanding Alumna from SHSU’s College of Criminal Justice in 2009.
Rodriguez has authored or co-authored several books in the field and has seen her work appear in numerous peer-reviewed journals. Her research, which focuses highly on inequality and the collateral consequences of mass incarceration, has led to collaborations with several police chiefs, line officers, correctional administrators, inmates, crime laboratory directors, victims, victim advocates and court officials. She has also served on two National Academy of Sciences panels.
Currently, Rodriguez is principal investigator of a study on the racial and ethnic disparities experienced by Latinos in local justice systems, which is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She is also principal investigator of two multi-state projects addressing the causes and consequences of prison violence and the nature and impact of family engagement among incarcerated persons, with support from Arnold Ventures.
Rodriguez and her husband, David Schaefer, have two sons, Ethan and Isaac.