Professor Eric Sevigny Named Interim Chair of Criminal Justice & Criminology

ATLANTA — Professor Eric Sevigny has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology for the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) at Georgia State University, effective Aug. 1, 2024.

“Dr. Sevigny is well-positioned to lead and manage the department during this transition period,” Dean Thomas J. Vicino said. “I am confident he will do so effectively during our search for a permanent chair.”

As interim chair, Sevigny will collaborate closely with the department and dean’s leadership team to advance the school’s planning and execution of future goals. This academic year, he will lead the department’s academic program review process and build on the unit’s success in delivering high-quality undergraduate and graduate education.

Sevigny joined the college in August 2015 as an associate professor of criminal justice and criminology. He was promoted to professor in August 2022. He has held faculty and research positions at the University of South Carolina, Michigan State University, the University of Pittsburgh and the RAND Corporation. He began his career as a youth counselor and program supervisor for the Northeastern Family Institute in Danvers, Mass.

Sevigny is an interdisciplinary scholar with interests in drug policy, sentencing and mass incarceration. His work is widely published in journals across the criminology, criminal justice and public policy fields, including the International Journal of Drug Policy, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Criminology and Public Policy. Since joining the university, he has won the National Institute of Justice’s Recidivism Forecasting Challenge (Small Team Competition 2021) and been recognized for excellence in research and editing by the International Journal of Drug Policy (Editor’s Choice Article 2020, Outstanding Reviewer 2015) and Publons Peer Review (Sentinel of Science Award 2016). Nationally, Sevigny serves as an executive counselor for the Drugs and Alcohol Research Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

In 2023, Sevigny received Georgia State’s Writing Across the Curriculum Faculty Pedagogy Award, and he previously served as the graduate coordinator for the M.S. in Criminal Justice and Ph.D. programs. Sevigny holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. from Middlebury College.

“We’re glad to have Dr. Sevigny’s support during a very exciting time for our department,” said Distinguished University Professor Leah Daigle, associate dean for faculty affairs at AYSPS and the department’s former chair. “We offer our students a national top-20 ranked program and fully online options for our bachelor’s and master’s programs. Additionally, our faculty leads in using open access course materials that help us deliver our undergraduate program in a no-cost format. Our future is bright, and Dr. Sevigny will be of great assistance in helping our faculty and staff advance the department even further.”