Sam Houston State University President Alisa White, left, awards Professor Nancy Rodriguez with her alma mater's Outstanding Alumni Award.
Professor lauded for her contributions
Nancy Rodriguez, professor of criminology, law and society, has been awarded her alma mater’s Outstanding Alumni Award. She is among six Sam Houston State University alumni who were recognized at the university’s 51st Annual Distinguished Alumni Gala last month for their significant contributions to their professions, communities and alma mater.
“To be recognized for my impact in the field is truly special to me,” Rodriguez says. “I am grateful that Sam Houston invests in students who look like me, providing numerous opportunities to grow and develop. I am indebted to my colleagues in the College of Criminal Justice. I would not be here if it weren’t for their deep commitment to advance the criminal justice profession and research.”
The professor received her B.A. in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University in 1992 and then went on to earn her Ph.D. in political science from Washington State University in 1998.
Former President Barack Obama appointed Rodriguez to serve as director of the National Institute of Justice from 2015 to 2017. She joined the faculty at UC Irvine in 2017. Her areas of research specialization are race, crime and justice, juvenile justice and collateral consequences of incarceration. Her research has garnered support in the form of grants totaling more than $5 million.
She has been recognized multiple times over the years for her research. Among her honors are the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Division on People of Color and Crime, the Coramae Richey Mann Award from the American Society of Criminology and the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology. She also was named a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology and a member the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Advancing the Field of Forensic Pathology: Lesson Learned from Death in Custody Investigations.
In the video introducing her at the Sam Houston gala, Rodriguez, a first-generation college graduate, talks about her academic and personal journey.