Joan Petersilia, Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law and faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, was awarded the 2011 Jerry Lee Lifetime Achievement Award by the Division of Experimental Criminology at the American Society of Criminology. The award recognizes leadership in the “advancement of experimental methodology, experimental research, or the use of experimental methods in the advancement of evidence-based policy.” Petersilia, also recognized as a mentor of fellow experimental scholars, has developed a body of research over a career of interest in this area.

A criminologist with a background in empirical research and social science, Petersilia has spent more than 25 years studying the performance of U.S. criminal justice agencies and has been instrumental in affecting sentencing and corrections reform in California and throughout the United States. She has written 11 books about crime and public policy, and her research on parole reform, prisoner reintegration, and sentencing policy has fueled changes in policies throughout the nation.