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Theodore S. Lentz, PhD

  • Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice & Criminology

Theodore S. Lentz, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research areas are criminal legal system analysis, youth and community justice, gun violence, decision-making, and social networks.

Dr. Lentz is currently working on multiple grant-funded projects, including a data landscape analysis of the criminal legal system in Milwaukee County, a community-led justice data needs assessment, two evaluations of community partnership programs to prevent gun violence victimization, and survey research to understand youth social network processes. He is interested in partnerships with community organizations and local governance to advance justice system transformation.

Dr. Lentz teaches Criminological Theory and Policy and Introduction to Criminal Justice at the undergraduate level. At the graduate-level, he teaches Issues in Law Enforcement Policy and Practice, and Advanced Analytic Techniques for Crime Analysts. He also serves on student dissertation committees, the social welfare PhD program committee, HBSSW graduate admissions committee, peacebuilding programs advisory committee, and the UWM online program council.

Education:

  • Ph.D., Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2020
  • M.S., Criminal Justice, Texas State University, 2016
  • B.A., Criminal Justice & Geography, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 2014

Professional Interests:

  • Criminal legal system analysis
  • Gun violence
  • Youth and community justice
  • Decision-making
  • Social networks
  • Spatial criminology

Current Committee Service:

  • PhD program committee
  • Graduate admissions committee
  • Peacebuilding programs advisory committee
  • Online program council

Professional Affiliations:

  • American Society of Criminology
    • Divisions: Communities and Place, Critical Criminology and Social Justice

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Curriculum Vitae