Philadelphia, PA, November 17, 2023 – The Division of Policing of the American Society of Criminology bestows the Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize lifetime scholarly achievement in the field of policing for a body of research developed over one’s career. Institute director, Rob Worden, is the recipient of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Several of Rob’s former students and, in many instances, now collaborators, were pleased to nominate Rob for the award. Professor Chris Harris (UMASS Lowell) said, “when I reached out to some of Rob’s former students about nominating him for this award, all were enthusiastic about the idea. And perhaps that’s no
surprise—we’ve all known Rob since the late 1990s and have seen firsthand that not only has his research made significant contributions to our understanding of policing, but he has a long record of working with the police practitioner community in ways that have an influence on both policy and practice. What’s more,
Rob has produced some of the best and brightest scholars in policing, and that is in no small part due to his mentorship and guidance. I honestly can’t think of anyone else more deserving of this award.”
At the Philadelphia award ceremony, Rob was joined by former students, colleagues, Institute staff, Board of Trustee members, family, and friends. In accepting the award, Rob said, “None of us achieves anything in academia entirely on our own; we owe debts of gratitude to mentors, collaborators, practitioner partners, colleagues, and students. My debt is especially large, for I’ve been blessed with many such people throughout my career – smart, industrious, congenial people, some of them current or former doctoral or master’s students, people who were not put off by opportunities that were
dressed in overalls and looked like work. I’m thankful to them all, with whom I share this recognition. More generally, my membership in this community of researchers and research-minded practitioners is a privilege. We read, review, critique, and build on one another’s work to broaden an evidence base that can better inform practice, and it matters; public safety, and the proper regulation of police authority, is a cornerstone of a healthy polity. I’m glad to have played a part in that enterprise, though I’m not finished yet ….”
