Dr. John MacDonald is the Schiffman Family Presidential Professor of Criminology. Dr. MacDonald’s research lies at the intersection of crime, public policy, and urban planning, with the goal of creating safer, healthier, and more livable cities. His work focuses on the effects of policing on crime, racial and ethnic disparities in police behavior, and the impact of police reforms.

In his 2019 book, Changing Places, Dr. MacDonald showcases his interdisciplinary approach, demonstrating how people’s health and safety can be improved by transforming neighborhoods block by block. The book illustrates how scientists, urban planners, developers, and residents can collaborate to create and test simple, affordable, and scalable place-based interventions. This work complements his research on policing strategies, as he examines how urban design and policing practices can work together to enhance public safety and reduce racial disparities.

Dr. MacDonald is a prolific researcher, with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, 25 book chapters and research reports, and four edited books. He is a leading voice in evidence-based policymaking, working at the intersection of criminology, urban studies, and public health.

Committed to translating research into policy and practice, Dr. MacDonald has served for a decade on the New York Police Department stop-and-frisk federal court-appointed monitoring team, overseeing court-ordered reforms through rigorous data analysis to assess the department’s compliance. He is currently collaborating with the Chicago Police Department to examine patterns and practices related to its use of force and racial disparities in misdemeanor arrests.

Dr. MacDonald has also received the David N. Kershaw Award from the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and the Joan McCord Award from the Academy of Experimental Criminology, recognizing his significant contributions to research in public policy and experimental criminology, respectively. He is the former co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, vice-chair of the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Experimental Criminology.