We are proud to share the stories of some of our recent graduates. Read about their academic journey and where they are now.
Arsala Khan completed a PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Spring 2023. Their research interests include Muslim Identities, Black Criminology, as well as Punitiveness and Public Attitudes. Dr. Khan is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor with the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at UA Little Rock.
Kimbla Newsom completed a PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Spring 2023. Her research interests include juvenile delinquency prevention and early intervention programs, juvenile justice policies and practices, school-to-prison pipeline, racial and ethnic disparities, and adverse childhood experiences as it relates to crime and delinquency. Dr. Newsom currently runs her own consulting company for juvenile justice and corrections.
Trye Price earned his PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His research interest includes Queer Criminology, homelessness, and hate crime victimization. Dr. Price is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law and Justice at Central Washington University.
Lacey Roughton completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Her research interests include victimization, religion and crime, and women and crime.
Kilby Raptopoulos completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Fall 2022. Her research interests include violence and victimization, sex offenders, the media’s portrayal of victims and offenders, empathy as it intersects with criminal justice, and online pedagogy. Kilby is currently an Advanced Instructor in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at UA Little Rock.
Mary Isis Wuestewald completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Fall 2022. Her areas of expertise are police officer self-legitimacy, organizational justice, and mass murder incidents. Mary is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
Natalie Snow completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Fall 2021. Her research interests include sexual violence, social media and crime, sex work, Indigenous criminology.
Natalie is currently an Assistant Professor at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Ontario, Canada.
Mary Hughes completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Fall 2021. Her areas of interest include health & crime, correctional healthcare, rural crime, prison re-entry programs, race, gender, and inmate inequality, and special populations.
Mary is currently the Research and Planning Unit Director with the Arkansas Department of Public Safety.
Mollee Steely Smith completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Summer 2021. Her research interests include sex offending, implementation science in correctional programming, and community-based participatory research.
Mollee is currently a research project coordinator for the Center for Health Services Research’s Health and the Legal System (HEALS) Lab in the Psychiatric Research Institute at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Whitney Gass completed her PhD in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Summer 2021. Her research interests include college campus crime and victimization.
Whitney is currently an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice in the Behavioral and Social Science Department at Southern Arkansas University. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Tabrina Bratton received her received her Bachelors of Arts in History and Minor in Business Administration from the University of Central Arkansas in 2014. Her research interests include policy processes, LGBTQ public opinions and attitudes, social media and criminal behavior, as well as community and institutional corrections.
Bri is currently the Quality Improvement and Program Evaluation Administrator for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Brooke Cooley received her Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Missouri. Her research interests include corrections, institutional management, special populations within correctional facilities, and sex offender behavior and policies.
Brooke is currently an Assistant Professor at Ball State University.
James Hurst received his B.A. (2007) in Psychology and M.A. (2014) in Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His research interests include fear of crime, campus safety, crime prevention, crime mapping, and drug use.
Jim is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern State University (OK).
Hyounggon Kwak received a M.A in Criminology, Dongguk University (2013) and B.A. degree (2010) in Law from Wonkwang University. His interests include Juvenile delinquency, social disorganization, sexual crime, victimization, and statistics.
Kwak is an Assistant Professor at Dongguk University Gyeongju.
Marc Glidden received his B.S. in Criminal Justice (2010) from East Carolina University and his M.A. in Education (2013) from McKendree University. Before beginning the PhD program at UALR, Marc was a full-time campus life professional at McKendree University. His areas of interest include juvenile delinquency and justice, campus safety/security, and corrections.
Marc is an Assistant Professor at California State University – Northridge.
Brenda Prochaska received her B.S. (2013) in Criminal Justice from the Northeastern State University (Tahlequah, OK). She began the doctoral program in Criminal Justice at UALR in Fall 2014 and is working as a research assistant on the National Institute of Justice grant, entitled, “Person or Place? A Contextual, Event-History Analysis of Homicide Victimization Risk.” She is a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Her research interests include Race/Ethnicity and Crime, Religion and Crime, and Juvenile Delinquency.
Brenda is an Assistant Professor at Lake Erie College (OH).
Jacob Laan received his BS (2011) and MS (2013) in criminal justice from Troy University (Troy, Alabama). Jacob’s master’s thesis is entitled Law Enforcement Training on Mental Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Southeastern United States. While at Troy, Jacob served as vice-president and president of Alpha Phi Sigma and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board, Order of Omega, Lambda Alpha Epsilon, and Omicron Kappa Delta.
Jacob is currently a Systems Consultant with Marquis Software Development, Inc.
Rocio Roles received her B.A. (2012) and M.A. (2014) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. Her teaching and research areas of interest include, juvenile justice and delinquency, military and community crime, policing, and criminological theory.
Rocio is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Kristen Sobba received B.S. degrees (2011) in Psychology and Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology at the University of Central Arkansas, and her M.A. at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is currently a graduate assistant and pursuing her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. Her research areas include: juvenile delinquency, corrections, and cyber-criminology.
Kristen is an Assistant Professor at Southeast Missouri State University.
Kyle Burgason received his B.A. (2008) in Criminal Justice/Criminology and M.A. (2010) in Criminal Justice from East Tennessee State University. His teaching and research interests include: policing, ethics in criminal justice, criminological theory, structural and cultural context of violent crime and victimization, capital punishment, and optimal foraging theory’s applications to crime. His recent work appears in The Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Deviant Behavior, and the Journal of Forensic Investigation. Kyle is an Associate Professor at Iowa State University.
Tom Zawisza received his B.A. (2008) in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Kent State University and his M.A. in Criminal Justice from East Tennessee State University. His focus area is environmental criminology, specializing in the built environment. His research and teaching interests include: environmental criminology, research methods, statistical methods, juvenile delinquency, neighborhoods and crime, theoretical criminology, and crime prevention. Tom is an Assistant Professor at Lasell College (MA).
Chris Rush received her B.S. degrees (2009) in Psychology and Criminal Justice/Criminology and her M.A. (2012) in Criminal Justice from East Tennessee State University. Her research and teaching interests include: corrections, criminal justice policy, deviant behavior, and forensics.
Chris is an Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University.
Grant Drawve received his B.A. (2009) in Administration of Justice and M.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His focus area is environmental criminology with a specialty in the spatial-temporal analyses of crime. His research and teaching interests include: environmental criminology, neighborhoods and crime, GIS, micro-places, crime prevention, policing, juvenile delinquency, drugs and crime, and the urban environment.
Grant is an Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the Crime and Security Data Analytics Lab at the University of Arkansas.
Jennifer Miller currently holds two Bachelor’s degrees: one in criminal justice, and one in professional and technical writing. Jennifer is originally from Little Rock and is currently involved in planning and implementing the Arkansas Victim Assistance Academy. She recently finished a process evaluation for the Arkansas Department of Community Correction related to the Second Chance Reentry Grant.
Jennifer is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Alesa Liles received her B.A. in Psychology (2010) and B.S. in Criminal Justice (2010) from Northeastern State University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Criminal Justice as well as an MSW. Her teaching and research interests include: corrections, juvenile justice, mental health, women in criminal justice, and criminal justice policy.
Alesa is currently an Associate Professor at Georgia College and State University.
Rick Dierenfeldt is a recent doctoral candidate with a successful defense of his dissertation. His research interests include the relationship between community characteristics, race, and crime and policy evaluation. His most recent works have been published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. Rick is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Brittani McNeal received her B.S. (2011) and M.S. (2012) in Criminal Justice from Bowling Green State University. She was involved in the planning and implementation of the Arkansas Victim Assistance Academy (AVAA) and program evaluations for Youth Advocacy Program (YAP) for Arkansas Department of Human Services (2013-2014). She is currently a research analyst for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Her research interests include corrections, juvenile justice and delinquency, and perceptions of the criminal justice system (police and courts). Brittani is currently an Associate Professor and Graduate Director at the University of West Georgia.
