Brian D. Johnson is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. He received his Ph.D. in Crime, Law & Justice in 2003 from the Pennsylvania State University. He served as co-Editor of Criminology from 2016-2020 and is the current gubernatorial-appointed Criminal Justice Policy Expert on the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. Dr. Johnson has received several million dollars in external research support from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, and Bureau of Justice Statistics. His work has made notable contributions to our understanding of court actor decision-making, social inequalities in the criminal legal system, and contextual variations in criminal punishment. He has received several awards from the American Society of Criminology, including the Gene Carte Student Paper Award, the Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award, and the ASC Division on Corrections and Sentencing Distinguished New Scholar Award. He was also selected as a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology in 2022. His published research includes more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles in the flagship journal Criminology, as well as multiple papers in other top outlets like the American Journal of Sociology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Justice Quarterly and Annual Review of Criminology. Dr. Johnson has served in numerous elected and appointed positions within both the American Society of Criminology and the ASC Division on Corrections and Sentencing.

Areas of Interest

  • Criminal Punishment, Sentencing, Prosecution, Bail, Race and Ethnicity, Social Contexts, Juvenile Transfer, Statistics

Degrees

  • Degree Type
    MA
    Degree Details
    Pennsylvania State University
  • Degree Type
    Ph.D
    Degree Details
    Pennsylvania State University
  • Degree Type
    BA
    Degree Details
    Lawrence University
Course Name Course Title Semester Syllabus
CCJS600 Criminal Justice Fall 2019 Syllabus

Current Students

Related Students (Listed by Student on Student's Profile)

  • Lydia Becker
  • Dixin Li
Johnson photo
2220D LeFrak Hall
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Email
bjohnso2 [at] umd.edu