What did you study at Yale? What is your current profession/job?
My degree was in Sociology. I concentrated on social deviance, social control and research methods. My dissertation was entitled “Nothing to Lose: A Study of Bank Robbery in America.” I retired in 2017. Prior to that time, for about 42 years, I lead a corrections consulting and research firm, and simultaneously served for 35 years as the Executive Director of a national association of correctional administrators. Earlier, I worked for about 10 years as a federal prison administrator and as a state and urban correctional system administrator.
What do you like most about your current role? What do you find most challenging and/or rewarding?
Retirement permits me to be more actively engaged in volunteer work with educational institutions, historical societies, and conservation groups, as well playing tennis. I also enjoy assisting current correctional administrators make decisions about their work. All of these activities continue to be personally rewarding.
How did your time at Yale shape your career trajectory?
Reinforced how important it is to treat others as you want to be treated, and that every encounter is either for better or worse. How people make you feel is far more important than what you learn from them.
What are the main skills that you acquired as a GSAS student which help make you successful in your current career?
Teamwork, collaboration, applying appropriate survey research techniques. Knowing the limitations and strengths of different approaches and sampling methods.
Did you acquire any professional experience related to your line of work while in graduate school?
Just an overall appreciation of knowing there was more I did not know that I knew, and how important it was to engage others in problem solving.
What advice would you offer GSAS students who are interested in your line of work?
Be patient and persevere. You can make a difference, but in some cases it may take a great deal of time for it to take hold.
