Faith Lutze, a professor in the department of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University, has been selected to receive the Founder’s Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. The organization, based in Greenbelt, Maryland, was established in 1963 to foster professional and scholarly activities in the field of criminal justice. ACJS promotes criminal justice education, research, and policy analysis within the discipline of criminal justice for both educators and practitioners. It has members in all 50 states and many foreign nations.
Dr. Lutze was honored for “a career of providing substantial contributions to the Academy and to the discipline of criminal justice through education and research.”
“Her career and commitment to criminal justice embodies the ACJS mission to transform justice through research, education, and practice,” said Frances Bernat, a Regents professor and associate dean at Texas A&M International University, in nominating Lutze for the award. “Faith is successful because of her leadership, drive, and intensity for caring. She does not just study criminal justice, she is an embodiment of its best virtues – a commitment to seek out answers to respond to crime in our communities and to make this nation a better place to live, work, and love.”
Dr. Lutze joined the faculty at Washington State University in 1995. She was the first woman to receive tenure in the department of criminal justice and criminology at the university. Dr. Lutze is the author of Professional Lives of Community Corrections Officers: The Invisible Side of Reentry (SAGE Publications, 2013).
Professor Lutze is a graduate of what is now Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, where she majored in criminal justice. She holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in the administration of justice from Pennsylvania State University.