printable versionNoted criminologist Joan Petersilia takes Law School post
Joan Petersilia
Joan Petersilia, who helped reform California's prison and parole systems, has joined the faculty of the Law School.
Petersilia comes to Stanford from the School of Social Ecology at the University of California-Irvine, where she directed the Center for Evidence-Based Corrections and served as a professor of criminology, law and society.
Petersilia will serve as faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, where she will assess policies related to crime control, sentencing and corrections. She'll also develop nonpartisan analyses and recommendations for public officials, legal practitioners and the public in understanding criminal justice policy at the state and national levels.
Petersilia has written eight books about corrections public policy, and her research on parole reform, prisoner reintegration and sentencing policy has fueled the overhaul of the state's corrections system. As a special adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger since 2003, she helped reorganize juvenile and adult corrections and established a new Office of Research and an Office of Policy and Planning.
Petersilia has served as director of the Criminal Justice Program at the RAND Corporation and as president of the American Society of Criminology. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Loyola Marymount University, a master's degree in sociology from Ohio State University and a doctorate in criminology, law and society from UC-Irvine.