FACULTY RECOGNITIONS
PUBLICATIONS BY FACULTY
The Sociology & Criminology department’s faculty consistently publishes in the the discipline's generalist and specialty journals, as well as the most prestigious academic presses in sociology and related fields. According to 2023 data compiled by Academic Analytics, our department ranks 1st in articles per faculty and 8th in citations per faculty among approximately 250 sociology departments nationwide—a testament to the remarkable productivity and scholarly impact of our faculty. By way of summary, faculty in our department have published in the top four generalist journals (American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, and Social Problems) at least 10 times in recent years. Beyond these top generalist journals, our faculty also regularly publish in leading sub-disciplinary and adjacent disciplinary journals, further demonstrating the breadth and depth of our scholarly contributions.
ASSOCIATE SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR IS THIS YEARS RECIPIENT OF THE HATCH PRIZE IN TEACHING FOR 2025.
Heather Melton won The Hatch Prize in Teaching. The Hatch Prize in Teaching is awarded to an outstanding faculty member who has made significant contributions to teaching at the University of Utah for an extended period of time. Specifically, the committee looks for a faculty member who has distinguished themselves through the development of new and innovative teaching methods, inventiveness in the curriculum and classroom, as well as commitment to enhancing student learning.
ASSOCIATE SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR IS THIS YEARS RECIPIENT OF THE DISTINGUISHED TEACHING
AWARD FOR 2024-2025.
Tom Quinn won The Distinguished Teaching Award. This award recognizes a consistent record of outstanding teaching performance and the implementation of effective and innovative teaching methods which demonstrate exceptional abilities to motivate student learning. Recipients must show a concern for students and their wider education as well as their career preparation and must also contribute to the educational process outside of the classroom.
ASSOCIATE SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR WINS PUBLIC SERVICE PROFESSOR FOR 2024.
Akiko Kamimura won The Public Service Professor Award. This award is designed to help a faculty member strengthen community-engaged learning experiences and foster stronger partnerships with the local community. Kamimura worked with Understanding Us – a grassroots (501) (c) non-profit organization that provides Tai Chi and physical activity programs to persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) in Salt Lake City.
ASSISTANT SOCIOLOGY PROFESSORS TAKE HOME TWO OF THE SUPERIOR TEACHING AWARDS FOR 2024!
Gaungzhen Wu and Rebecca Owen both received Superior Teaching Awards for 2024. This award recognizes the efforts of faculty (either tenure-track or career-line) who have consistently made significant contributions to the teaching mission of the College.
Samuel owens, lead sociology & criminolgy advisor wins staff excellence award for
2023-2024
Sam Owens won the Staff Excellence Award. The University Staff Excellence Awards (USEA) program was established in 1992 to recognize superior service and ongoing contributions by the University of Utah's employees.
Sociology welcomes three new faculty members in 2024
Katherine Maldonado
Katherine Maldonado Fabela, Ph.D., is from South Central Los Angeles and holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include critical criminology, health, inequalities, and visual methodology. Her current book project examines the experiences of Latina/Chicana mothers within the carceral system, focusing on their interactions with the child welfare system. The study highlights the violence and grief these mothers face, the impact on their mental health, and mechanisms of recovery and healing through motherwork strategies.
Chiara Packard
Chiara Packard, Ph.D., is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Her research uses primarily qualitative methods to explore the political and social processes that shape punishment, and how punishment, in turn, reproduces inequality. Chiara’s book project focuses on one of the most powerful, yet understudied, actors in the criminal legal system: prosecutors. Drawing on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in two midwestern District Attorney’s offices, this study explores how prosecutors make decisions regarding charging, plea-bargaining, and sentencing recommendations. In her teaching, Chiara adopts a student-centered approach that is interactive, inclusive, and supportive. Finally, Chiara moved to Salt Lake City with her husband and baby girl, and they are excited to explore all the outdoor activities that Utah has to offer.
Doug Routh
Doug Routh, Ph.D., has primarily focused on corrections with emphasis on 1) risk and needs assessment tools and 2) strategies for population management and connecting individuals to treatment, services, and resources. Over the past several years, Doug has broadened his attention to focus on a more interdisciplinary approach to include the intersection of healthcare, public health, technology, implementation science, and criminal justice. Specifically, his more recent work has focused on identifying and addressing barriers to healthcare and treatment access experienced by justice-involved populations through telehealth or other technology-based interventions and efforts to improve outreach, provision, matching, initiation, retention, and completion of services. Doug’s teaching has covered a variety of topics within the criminal justice system, but has focused more Institutional and Community Corrections, Special Topics in Corrections, Technology in the Justice System, Crime Theories, and Introduction to Criminal Justice.
In his personal life, he is currently, ruled over by 1 tabby cat companion (Mochi); he is the king of his household. He is a huge sports fan, especially soccer and hockey. He really likes the Bees’ games. And finally, he is a self proclaimed "huge comic book nerd" along with fantasy/sci fi literature.
Faculty Awards and Grants
Over the past several years, few public research universities have risen in stature as quickly for both academic excellence and the creation of life-changing technological and medical innovation as the University of Utah.
Awards
Heather Melton
The Calvin S. and JeNeal N Hatch Prize in Teaching for 2025
Tom Quinn
University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award 2024-2025
Guangzhen Wu
University of Utah Superior Teaching award for 2024. Junior Scholar Award forthe ASA
Section on Drugs and Society 2023
Finalist for Superior Teaching Award for Junior Tenure-Line Faculty 2023
Rebecca Owen
University of Utah Superior Teaching Award for 2024
Frank Page
University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award 2023-2024
Sara Grineski
CSBS Award for Advancing Equity and Connecting Communities 2023
Brett Clark
University of Utah Distinguished Research Award 2023
Akiko Kamimura
John G. Francis Prize for Undergraduate Student Mentoring 2023
Katie Durante
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences William L. Simon/Routledge Outstanding Paper
Award 2023
Grants
Daniel Adkins
2021-2024 Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, Testing SupportGroove: A novel health intervention for couples with spinal cord injuries
Brett Clark
2024 USTEM Hub Seed Grant, "Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and STEM Based Research Findings into STEM Curriculum for Public Schools on the Wind River Reservation”
Maxwell Coleman
2025-2026 CSBS: Mental Health Research & Community Engagement Fund. Sponsor: Healthy Mind Map Gives “Rising Suicidality in Black Youth: What Explains the Trend? Exploring Resilience & Vulnerability Factors”
Katherine Durante
2024 CSBS/VPR Seed Grant, University of Utah, "Assessing the Impacts of Incarceration on Excess Mortality among Formerly Incarcerated Individuals and the Health of Their Newborns in Utah"
Claudia Geist
2023 National Science Foundation. University of Utah ADVANCE IT grant “Institutional Change through Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation"
Sara Grineski
2023-2027 National Institutes of Health, Area-level Socio-economic Conditions and Individual-level Health and Mortality: Exploring Place-Based Mechanisms and Individual-level Psychosocial Processes
Kim Korinek
2022-2027 The Henry Luce Foundation, Southeast Asia, Health, Environment and Development (SEA-AHEAD) Grant for new Faculty Hire
2022-2026 U.S. Department of Education, Title VI program, Intermountain Consortium for Asian and Pacific Studies, National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies Grants
Megan Reynolds
2023-2027 National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, "Understanding the Relationship Between Economic Security Policy Generosity and Birth Outcomes among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Women"
Rebecca Utz
2022-2027 National Institute on Aging, LEADing Dementia End-of-Life Planning Conversations
Guagnzhen Wu
2024 Center for Medical Cannabis Research, University of Utah, "Assessing the Effects of Cannabis Legalization on Illicit Drug Use, Drug-related Crime, and Jail and Prison Populations: A Multi-State Study"
Academic Engagement
Sociologists in the Media
Sara Grineski
Radio Interview. America’s toxic schools. Living on Earth with Steve Curwood. (broadcast on 250 public radio stations) February 9, 2018. http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=18-P13-00006#feature1
Review of research study in the Guardian. February 1, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/01/schools-across-the-us-exposed-to-air-pollution-hildren-are-facing-risks
Community Presentations
Sara Grineski
Air Pollution in El Paso and its Impact on Children's School Performance. Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality in the Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua / El Paso, Texas / Doña Ana County, New México Air Basin (http://www.cccjac.org/). Cd. Juarez, Mexico. (Remote Participant) 18 January 2018.
Invited Grand Rounds Speaker. Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Boise, Idaho. 2 May 2018.
Marcel Paret
Guest Editor of Special Issue Journals:
“Politics of Precarity: Critical Engagements with Guy Standing.” Global Labor Journal 7(2), 2016.
“Building Citizenship From Below: Precarity, Migration, Agency.” Citizenship Studies 29(3-4), 2016. Co-edited with Shannon Gleeson.
Brett Clark
Chair, Marxist Sociology section of the American Sociological Association
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS