Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, College of Public Affairs, and a Research Fellow of the Center for International and Comparative Law, and the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore. He has been a Visiting Professor at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany, and University of Padua, Italy.

Ross has researched, written, and lectured primarily on corrections, policing, political crime, state crime, crimes of the powerful, violence, street culture, and crime and justice in American Indian communities for over two decades. Ross’ work has appeared in many academic journals and books, as well as popular media. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of several books including the ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF STREET CULTURE (Routledge, 2021).

Ross is a respected subject matter expert for local, regional, national and international news media. He has made live appearances on CNN, CNBC, Fox News Network, MSNBC, and NBC. Additionally Ross has written op-eds for The (Baltimore) Sun, the Baltimore Examiner, The (Maryland) Daily Record, The Gazette, The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, and The Tampa Tribune.

From 1995-1998, Ross was a Social Science Analyst with the National Institute of Justice, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2003, he was awarded the University of Baltimore’s Distinguished Chair in Research Award. Ross is the co-founder of Convict Criminology, and the former co-chair/chair of the Division of Critical Criminology and Social Justice (2014-2017) of the American Society of Criminology. In 2018, Ross was given the Hans W. Mattick Award, “for an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of Criminology & Criminal Justice practice,” from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2020, he received the John Howard Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Division of Corrections. The award is the ACJS Corrections Section’s most prestigious award, and was given because of his “outstanding research and service to the field of corrections.” In 2020, he was honored with the John Keith Irwin Distinguished Professor Award from the ASC Division of Convict Criminology. During the early 1980s, Jeff worked almost four years in a correctional institution. His website is www.jeffreyianross.com

Stephen C. Richards Ph.D, is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He is the author of six books, and over 100 scholarly articles. He is lead organizer and one of the founders of the New School of Convict Criminology, the Convict Criminology Theoretical Perspective and Group. Richards is a Soros Senior Justice Fellow.

Richards served a 9 year sentence in US federal prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana. He completed a BS Degree in Sociology from UW-Madison (1986) while in prison. Upon release from prison he finished an MA in Sociology at UW-Milwaukee (1989), and then a PhD in Sociology at Iowa State University (1992). His academic work, speaking engagements, media appearances, and books have focuses on building a community of formerly incarcerated men and women to challenge the intellectual and government support of the prison state. He has appeared or been interviewed on ABC, NBC, MSNBC, FOX, CNN, BBC, CBC, PBS, and NPR. He has also been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, and numerous other newspapers in the US and Europe.