A Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati (UC), Robin S. Engel, Ph.D., is Director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) / UC Center for Police Research and Policy. From 2016 to 2019, in the aftermath of a critical incident involving the fatal police shooting of an unarmed motorist, she served as UC’s Vice President for Safety and Reform. In this position, she oversaw daily operations and comprehensive reform efforts with the University of Cincinnati Police Division (UCPD). Dr. Engel leads national research and evaluation projects that promote partnerships between the academic and law enforcement communities and examine policies that result in safer community/police interactions. She has served as Principal Investigator for over eighty research grants, totaling over twenty-one million dollars.

Dr. Engel published over sixty research articles, books, and chapters, along with dozens of technical reports for practitioners. She has previously been ranked among the top academics and the number one female in the criminal justice/criminology field by prominent peer-reviewed journals. Her work on reducing community violence resulted in several notable team awards, including the 2008 IACP/Motorola Webber Seavey Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement, the 2009 IACP/West Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigations, and the 2008 National Criminal Justice Association’s Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award. She has served as an expert on policing and violence reduction for panels convened at the White House and 10 Downing Street. In 2017, Dr. Engel was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany. She currently serves as a governor-appointed member of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board and as the IACP’s Research Advisory Committee co-chair. She is a consultant on police training for the Ohio Attorney General and a member of the National Police Foundation’s Council on Policing Reforms and Race.