Wade Jacobsen is an associate professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice where he co-directs the undergraduate honors program. He is currently the Acting Associate Director of the Maryland Population Research Center (2024-2025) and also serves as a member of the research team for the Maryland Longitudinal Data System Center. His research examines how the development of risky behaviors in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood is shaped by interactions with institutions (e.g., schools, criminal legal system) and social networks. Most of his current research assesses the impacts of a youth’s experience with school discipline or criminal justice involvement on changes in their peer networks and risky behaviors. Before his current appointment at UMD, he worked as a research specialist for the Center for Research on Child Wellbeing at Princeton University (Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study) and then as a graduate research assistant for the PROSPER Peers Project at Penn State University.