Kent R. Kerley, Ph.D.Kent R. Kerley, Ph.D., has been named the chair of the Department of Criminal Justice in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Kerley received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from East Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. in Sociology/Criminology from the University of Tennessee.
Since 2015, Dr. Kerley served as professor and chair in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Texas at Arlington. He also served as a faculty member at UAB for ten years (2005-2015) and at Mississippi State University (2001-2005).
“I am honored to return to UAB in this new role as chair of the Department of Criminal Justice. UAB was my home for ten great years early in my academic career, and I am thrilled to come back,” said Dr. Kerley. “I want to thank my department colleagues, search committee members, and Dean Kecia M. Thomas for this amazing opportunity to serve. I support fully the dean’s vision for increasing Inclusive Excellence in CAS and look forward to working with my new colleagues in support of that vision.”
Dr. Kerley’s primary research interests include corrections, religiosity, and drug careers. His research has appeared in top journals such as Aggression and Violent Behavior, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Justice Quarterly, Social Forces, and Social Problems. He is author of Religious Faith in Correctional Contexts (2014), Current Studies in the Sociology of Religion (2015), Finding Freedom in Confinement: The Role of Religion in Prison Life (2018), and Religion and Crime: Theory, Research, and Practice (2018).
“The College of Arts and Sciences is excited to welcome Dr. Kent Kerley back to Birmingham,” said Dean Thomas. “Dr. Kerley is an outstanding and engaged scholar and funded researcher who will help to elevate the continuing success of the Department of Criminal Justice. I am happy to have him as a new leader and a partner in the College’s mission related to Inclusive Excellence.”
Dr. Kerley was Principal Investigator for two National Science Foundation grants used to create a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at UAB called Using the Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Mathematics to Study Crime. He has also received research funding from Google and the Religious Research Association.
Dr. Kerley currently serves as the vice president for the Southern Criminal Justice Association and will become SCJA President in September 2022. He and his wife, Lori Hill Kerley, met at the University of Tennessee and have two kids, eight grandkids, and one dog.
“Our Department of Criminal Justice is interdisciplinary and unique in that our faculty excel in three areas: forensic science, digital forensics, and criminal justice. Dr. Kerley is committed to the success of all three areas, and I’m looking forward to all the ways in which the department will continue to flourish under his leadership,” said Dean Thomas.
“I’m also very grateful for the leadership of Dr. Jeff Walker, outgoing chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and our College’s newest University Professor. I look forward to the continued impact he will have on our campus and in the community,” said Dean Thomas.
