Charlotte Gill, a 2019 Outstanding Faculty Awards winner, empowers her students to become the next generation of criminal justice researchers.
Gill, with her award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). She previously won SCHEV's Rising Star Award. Photo by Pierre Courtois.
She initially wanted to become a lawyer, but it was Charlotte Gill’s strong sense of justice and deep affinity for community engagement that led the George Mason University educator to the classroom to question the “how” and “why” of the American justice system.
Gill, an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and the deputy director of Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, continues to make a difference by empowering her students to become the next generation of criminal justice researchers, policymakers and practitioners as they apply what they’ve learned to real-world problems.
“I love pushing students to think about how they can apply the theories and data they read in books and articles to real-life problems,” she said. “Our students have so much potential to make a difference in their communities, and I love to see them make the connections between research evidence and community empowerment or justice system reform.”
Gill’s efforts at positive social change have not unnoticed. She was recently recognized by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) by being named one of the recipients of the 2019 Outstanding Faculty Awards. The accolade is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s highest honor for faculty at state public and private colleges and universities, recognizing superior accomplishments in teaching, research and public service.
Gill has previously received SCHEV’s Rising Star Award, which recognizes educators with two to six years of experience as a full-time faculty member.
“Professor Gill has been an incredible asset to the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy,” said center director Cynthia Lum, a professor of Criminology, Law and Society. “Her research on community crime prevention, schools and rural criminal justice has a great deal of application to important and practical concerns in today’s society. She is a highly respected and much-loved teacher, and her students value her mentorship and assistance. Most importantly, Dr. Gill is kind and generous, the type of academic that we should all aspire to be. Mason is lucky to have her as she makes us all look great.”
Gill has become a leader in the field of criminology after joining Mason as a tenure-track faculty member in 2014 following three years as a postdoctoral fellow and senior research associate. She was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow in 2017 and has received four federal grants from the U.S. Department of Justice, including a $3.8 million research grant from the National Institute of Justice’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.
“It has been eye-opening to see how research can be used to help community engagement and development,” Gill said.
Gill was among the 13 state educators to receive Outstanding Faculty Awards this year out of the 86 who were nominated. The winners were honored at a luncheon in Richmond.