On February 2nd, Northeastern University celebrated the installation of Eric L. Piza as the Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice.
Pictured: Benjamin Lipman, CSSH Dean Kellee Tsai, Professor Eric Piza, Provost Beth Winkelstein
Pictured: Professor Eric Piza and Benjamin Lipman
The endowed professorship recognizes Professor Piza’s leading scholarship in evidence-based policing, place-based crime prevention, and the use of technology and data in criminal justice—and strengthens the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice’s commitment to research that informs policy and practice.
THE LIPMAN FAMILY PROFESSORSHIP
The Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice is an endowed position made possible by the Lipman family’s support for Northeastern’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. When the fund was established, it specified that the occupant of the chair be an outstanding and distinguished scholar in criminology and criminal justice. Ben Lipman, a graduate of the College of Criminal Justice and a former member of the Northeastern University Corporation, represented the Lipman family at the installation event.
Professor James Alan Fox assumed the inaugural Lipman Chair in 1999 and held it until his retirement. His career as a leading expert on mass murder, serial murder, youth crime, and capital punishment, and his public scholarship—including the AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database and hundreds of op-eds—exemplified the chair’s mission.
Professor Fox’s scholarship has embodied the spirit Ira Lipman sought to fund—research that can be translated into practice to make communities safer and more secure.
— Amy Farrell, Director of SCCJ, on Professor James Alan Fox
Endowed chairs allow the university to retain and recognize faculty whose scholarship and teaching define the field and extend the school’s impact locally, nationally, and internationally.
ERIC L. PIZA: A NEW GENERATION
The Lipman Family Professorship supports a distinguished scholar whose work advances the understanding of crime, justice, and public safety. Piza holds a PhD in criminal justice from Rutgers University and is Director of Crime Analysis Initiatives at Northeastern. His research has been supported by over $6.9 million in external grants; he has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and three books, and has been recognized as one of the most influential scholars in crime prevention research.
A LEADER IN EVIDENCE-BASED POLICING AND PLACE-BASED RESEARCH
Professor Piza’s research focuses on the spatial analysis of crime patterns, evidence-based policing, crime control technology, and the integration of academic research and police practice. His work is widely cited in discussions of place-based criminology, problem-oriented policing, and the evaluation of law-enforcement strategies—including hot-spots policing, CCTV and gunshot-detection technology, and body-worn cameras—topics at the center of debates over effective and equitable policing. He has served as a Geographic Information Systems specialist with the Newark Police Department and as doctoral faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice before joining Northeastern in 2022. Piza has received the American Society of Criminology Division of Policing Early Career Award, John Jay College Scholarly Excellence Award, and was named a Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Emerging Scholar.
Dr. Eric Piza is at the cutting edge of this new horizon of crime prevention and public safety.
— Amy Farrell, SCCJ Director
The installation of Eric L. Piza as the Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice marks a major milestone for the school and for the continued growth of evidence-based criminal justice research at Northeastern.
