Ronald L. Akers is Professor of Criminology
and Sociology
He earned his Ph. D. in Sociology from the
University of Kentucky, 1966, and after tenure at three other major
universities, he joined the UF faculty in 1980.
He is author of Law and Control in Society (1975,
with Richard Hawkins), Criminological Theories (lst-3rd ed, 1994-2000;
4th ed., 2004, with
Christine Sellers), Drugs, Alcohol and Society (1992), and Deviant
Behavior: A Social Learning Approach (3rd ed., 1985), Social Learning
and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime and Deviance (1998),
and
co-editor with Gary Jensen of Social Learning Theory and the
Explanation of Crime (2003). He is also author of over 80
chapters
and articles in major criminology and sociology journals. His
major research and scholarly work has been on developing
and testing his social learning theory of crime and deviance as well as
other theories and on many substantive, empirical, and policy issues in
crime, deviance, law, and justice.
He has served as Director of the Center for Studies
in Criminology and Law (1994-2001), Chair of the Department of
Sociology
(1980-85) and the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2001-2004) He was UFRF Professor
from 1998-2001. Over the years he has
been member or chair of many committees and tasks forces in the College
and University, including Chair of the College Tenure and Promotion
Committee and President Pro-Tem of the CLAS Assembly. Since
coming to UF, he has chaired 16 doctoral and 20 masters students and
has served on 60 other doctoral and masters committees.
He was elected President of the American
Society
of Criminology and President of the Southern Sociological Society as
well as
Chair
of the Criminology Section of the American Sociological Association and
Coordinator of the Christian Sociological Society. He is
recipient of the Edwin H. Sutherland Award by the American Society of
Criminology and inductee into the Roll of Honor of the Southern
Sociological Society. An endowed chair (The Ronald L. Akers
Professorship in Criminology and Deviance) has been established in his
honor at the University of Kentucky.