AEC Awards

See the call for awards for 2024 here!

Joan McCord Award

The Joan McCord Award recognizes a scholar who has made distinguished experimental contributions to criminology and criminal justice over the course of their career. Award recipients must have conducted significant experimental research that is in the tradition of Joan McCord and has important implications for policy and practice.

2004 – Richard Tremblay, University of Montreal
2005 – David Farrington, University of Cambridge
2006 – Lawrence W. Sherman, University of Cambridge
2007 – Joan Petersilia, University of California, Irvine (now at Stanford University Law School)
2008 – David Weisburd, The Hebrew University and George Mason University
2009 – Denise Gottfredson, University of Maryland
2010 – Ted Palmer, California Youth Authority (retired)
2011 – Doris MacKenzie, Pennsylvania State University
2012 – Mark Lipsey, Vanderbilt University
2013 – Lorraine Mazerolle, University of Queensland
2014 – Anthony Braga, Rutgers University and Harvard Kennedy School
2015 – Friedrich Lösel, University of Cambridge and University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
2016- David Hawkins, University of Washington
2017- Faye Taxman, George Mason University
2018- Pamela K. Lattimore, RTI International
2019- Jerry Ratcliffe, Temple University
2020- Adrian Raine, University of Pennsylvania
2021- Brandon Welsh, Northeastern University
2022- John M. MacDonald, University of Pennsylvania
2023- Barak Ariel, University of Cambridge
2024- Wesley Skogan, Northwestern University

Outstanding Early Career Experimental Criminologist Award

The Outstanding Early Career Experimental Criminologist Award (formerly the Outstanding Young Experimental Scholar Award) recognizes exceptional early career scholarship. The nominee must be early in their career (up to 5 years removed from their doctoral program) and have a strong track record of performing high-quality experimental criminological research. Peer-reviewed publication record and/or grantsmanship work may be considered.

2007 – Gaylene Styve Armstrong & Todd A. Armstrong, Sam Houston State University
2008 – Elizabeth Groff, Temple University
2009 – Sarah Bennett, Griffith University (now at University of Queensland) & John MacDonald, University of Pennsylvania
2010 – Yu Gao, University of Pennsylvania
2011 – Barak Ariel, University of Cambridge
2012 – Charlotte Gill, George Mason University
2013 – Justin Ready, Arizona State University
2014 – Joel Caplan, Rutgers University
2015 – Jordan Hyatt, Drexel University
2016- Emma Antrobus, University of Queensland
2017- Cynthia (Cindy) Najdowski, SUNY Albany
2018- Cody Telep, Arizona State University
2019- Megan Denver, Northeastern University
2020- Aaron Chalfin, University of Pennsylvania
2021- Justin Nix, University of Nebraska
2022- Colleen M. Berryessa, Rutgers University
2023- Shichun Ling, California State University Los Angeles
2024- Rylan Simpson, Simon Fraser University

DEC Awards

Jerry Lee Lifetime Achievement Award

The Jerry Lee Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to a scholar who has demonstrated a lifetime of achievement in the field of experimental methods. This award is dedicated to a scholar’s body of research and accomplishments throughout their career. Nominations should demonstrate a lifetime commitment to high quality scholarly activity and the production of exceptional contributions to the field of criminology.

2010 – David Farrington, University of Cambridge
2011 – Joan Petersilia, Stanford University Law School
2012 – Friedrich Lösel, University of Cambridge
2013 – Lawrence Sherman, University of Cambridge and University of Maryland
2014 – David Weisburd, The Hebrew University and George Mason University
2015 – Denise Gottfredson, University of Maryland
2016- Doris MacKenzie, Pennsylvania State University
2017- Steven Belenko, Temple University
2018- Jeremy Travis, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
2019- Lorraine Mazerolle, University of Queensland
2020- Robert Boruch, University of Pennsylvania
2021- Manuel Eisner, University of Cambridge
2022- Anthony Braga, University of Pennsylvania
2023- Heather Strang, University of Cambridge
2024- Edmund McGarrell, Michigan State University

Award for Outstanding Experimental Field Trial

The Outstanding Experimental Field Trial award is given to a researcher, or team of researchers, in recognition of a rigorous and impactful experimental field trial. The field trial must demonstrate a rigorous experimental methodology implemented in partnership with criminal justice practitioners. A peer-reviewed publication derived from the field trial must be under review, accepted, or completed by the time of the nomination.

2011 – John Roman, Shannon Reid, Jay Reid, Aaron Chalfin, William Adams, and Carly Knight, Urban Institute
2012 – Karen Amendola et al., Police Foundation (see Karen Amendola discussing the Police Foundation shift work experiment here)
2013 – Jerry Ratcliffe, Travis Taniguchi, Elizabeth Groff, and Jennifer Wood for their Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment.
2014 – Lawrence Sherman and Heather Harris for their Milwaukee Domestic Violence Experiment 23-Year Follow-Up
2015 – Sara Heller, University of Pennsylvania, for the Chicago Summer Jobs Trial
2016- Robert J. Kane, Drexel University, Michael D. White, Arizona State University & Justin Ready, Griffith University for the TASER® Exposure and Cognitive Impairment trials.
2017- Lorraine Mazzerolle, Sarah Bennett, Emma Antrobus & Elizabeth Eggins for the Ability School Engagement Program (ASEP) Field Trial
2018- Agan, A., & Starr, S. (2018). Ban the box, criminal records, and racial discrimination: A field experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(1), 191-235.
2019- Braga, A. A., Sousa, W. H., Coldren, J. R., & Rodriguez, D. (2018). The effects of body-worn cameras on police activity and police-citizen encounters: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 1083, 511-538.
2020- Branas, C. C., South, E., Kondo, M. C., Hohl, B. C., Bourgois, P., Wiebe, D. J., & MacDonald, J. M. (2018). Citywide cluster randomized trial to restore blighted vacant land and its effects on violence, crime, and fear. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(12), 2946-2951.
2021- Clare, J., Henstock, D., McComb, C., Newland, R., & Barnes, G. C. (2021). The results of a randomized controlled trial of police body-worn video in Australia. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 17(1), 43-54.
2022- Capellan, J. A., Koppel, S., & Sung, H.-E. (2022). The effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on recidivism among parolees in Central America: evidence from a Honduran experiment. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 18(1), 115-128.
2023- Rothwell, S., McFadzien, K., Strang, H., Hooper, G., & Pughsley, A. (2022). Rapid video responses (RVR) vs. face-to-face responses by police officers to domestic abuse victims: A randomised controlled trial. Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing, 6, 1-24.
2024- Yang, S.-M., Gill, C. E., Lu, Y.-F., Azam, M., & Kanewske, L. C. (2024). A police-clinician co-response team to people with mental illness in a suburban-rural community: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Experimental Criminology. Advance online publication.

Student Paper Award

The Student Paper Award is given for a single outstanding paper utilizing experimental methods to analyze criminology/criminal justice related topics/issues. The paper must be written by a graduate student enrolled in an internationally recognized Ph.D. program. It is required that the paper has been published or accepted for publication in an academic journal.

2011 – No award given
2012 – Cody Telep et al., George Mason University, for “How much time should the police spend at crime hot spots? Answers from a police agency directed randomized field trial in Sacramento, California.”
2013 – Matthew Nelson et al., George Mason University/Arizona State University, for “Sample size, effect size, and statistical power: A replication study of Weisburd’s paradox.”
2014 – Evan Sorg et al., Temple University, for “Boundary adherence during place-based policing evaluations.”
2015 – Angela M. Jones et al., John Jay College, for “Sensitizing jurors to factors influencing the accuracy of eyewitness identification: Assessing the effectiveness of the Henderson instructions.”
2016- Adam Dunbar et al., University of California, Irvine, for “The threatening nature of ‘rap’ music.”
2017- (2 awards) Olivia Choy & Megan Denver
2018- Kyleigh Clark-Moorman et al., University of Massachusetts, for “Impact evaluation of a parolee-based focused deterrence program on community-level violence.”
2019- Rylan Simpson, University of California, Irvine, for “Police vehicles as symbols of legitimacy.”
2020- Hugo S. Gomes et al.,University of Minho, for “Measurement bias in self-reports of offending: a systematic review of experiments.”
2021- Kristina Block, Sam Houston State University, for “Professional sports and crime: do professional hockey games increase city-level crime rates?”
2022- Kevin Petersen et al., George Mason University, for “Seeing is believing: the impact of body-worn cameras on court outcomes, a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Miami Beach.”
2023- Justin L. Sola et al., University of California, Irvine, for “Making the call: how does perceived race affect desire to call the police?“
2024- Abby Ballou, Northeastern University, for “Degrees of difference: Do college credentials earned behind bars improve labor market outcomes?“