Carnegie-Mellon Professor Wins Major Criminology Prize

Here is a story that you never saw reported in any of the local media when it was announced at the end of October. Professor Al Blumstein of Carnegie-Mellon University has been awarded the 2007 Stockholm Prize in Criminology. He will share the prize with Professor Terrie E. Moffitt from the University of London.

This is, in essence, criminology's equivalent of a Nobel Prize or the Fields Medal in mathematics. It is awarded in Stockholm's City Hall, the same venue where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented. The Stockholm Prize includes a cash award of 1 million Swedish Kronor, equivalent to roughly $145,000 in U.S. currency.

According to the prize announcement, Professor Blumstein

... has made a major contribution to the research into criminal careers. He is being recognized for his analyses of variations in the frequency of offending in the careers of active criminals in US jurisdictions. His research has had a global impact on justice polices and practices, as well as on the rapid growth in the influence of developmental and life-course criminology.

I often focus on the negative aspects of Pittsburgh, and so it's a nice relief to talk about something that all of us can be very proud of. Congratulations to Al and his family!