Emeritus professor recognized by Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
Henry N. Pontell, UC Irvine emeritus professor of criminology, law and society and distinguished professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is the recipient of the 2025 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Outstanding Mentor Award.
The honor recognizes educators who have made a significant contribution to the professional development of criminal justice graduate and doctoral students and junior faculty members.
The following are excerpts from Pontell’s award letter:
On student professional networking
Pontell’s significant contributions to fostering student success for numerous undergraduate and graduate students who he supervised directly over the years, and many more who he has counseled on careers or worked with as a professor and administrator, are all indicative of his extraordinary effectiveness and success as a highly caring mentor.
On mentoring in criminological research: student scholarly publications
Pontell has published dozens of articles, chapters and books with undergraduate and graduate students throughout his career up to the present, including them in every major project he has conducted as a criminologist. Moreover, on their way to completing their doctoral theses, with very few exceptions, his graduate students have gone on to highly successful careers, and he has published with every one of them as well, oftentimes on numerous pieces. He has also been an effective mentor to many more students upon whose committees he was a member or co-chair.
In total, he’s co-authored 5 books and 60 articles and chapters with both graduate and undergraduate students at this time in his career.
On mentoring students from diverse backgrounds
Judge Maria Hernandez currently serves as the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, California and notes in a 2016 article about her career: ‘Coming from a farm community, I was pretty sheltered. The exposure I had at UCI opened my views, my perspectives, on the world. The work that I saw being done by researchers and my professors in the 1980s was really forward-thinking. Henry Pontell, Paul Jesilow, Bill Thompson – they really shaped what I wanted to do in a way that I hadn’t anticipated…Hernandez works to deter troubled youngsters from descending into lives of crime, helping kids who typically don’t have the positive role models she had as a child. Many juvenile offenders who visit her courtroom have been in and out of foster homes.’ Judge Hernandez currently works with UCI researchers with funding from the federal government in administering programs to help determine effective methods of intervention for setting at-risk minors on the path to productive, fulfilling lives.
Hugo Soto-Martinez, another student of Pontell’s, currently serves as a Los Angeles City Councilman. He was born and raised in the city by immigrant parents and has become a major force in organizing workers and ushering in a more progressive era at City Hall. In a recent interview he notes the following about his educational experience a UCI: ‘Honestly, it was very challenging because my high school did not prepare me for the intensity and workload at UCI. I remember feeling very out of place as well because at the time, there weren’t many Latino kids at UC Irvine, and even the ones that were there were not from where I grew up, so I always felt a bit like I didn’t belong. Luckily, I found friends that accepted me, along with some professors, like Professor Emeritus [of criminology, law & society and sociology] Henry Pontell and Professor Emeritus [of CLS] John Dombrink, who were very loving and supportive during my time at UCI.’
In sum, given almost a half-century of dedication to mentoring students, a truly remarkable record of publication with them, their placement in academic positions in criminology and related disciplines in the U.S. and throughout the world, the effective career guidance he has provided, initiating and securing major sources of funding for student research and career development, arranging numerous professional networking opportunities, and doing all of this at two major universities in California and New York, we heartily endorse this nomination of Henry Pontell as an exceptionally qualified candidate for the 2025 Outstanding Mentor Award of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Pontell has mentored numerous students and junior colleagues who have successfully pursued academic careers in the U.S. and internationally. To name a few of the universities where his students and colleagues now work: UC Irvine, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Waseda University, National Taiwan University, City University of Hong Kong, University of Macau, University of Massachusetts, University of Hong Kong, Texas Christian University, Bejing Normal University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Alabama, Southern Utah University, Indiana University, University of Houston, Temple University, University of Texas, University of California, Riverside, California State Universities at Fullerton, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Dominguez Hills, and Sonoma, University of Missouri, University of Minnesota, and University of Nevada.
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