John Smykla

John Ortiz Smykla, PhD, is professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies at the University of West Florida. Previously, he was professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, where he served as department chair for 10 years, and at the University of South Alabama, where he served as department chair for 3 years.

Dr. Smykla teaches courses in corrections and research methods. He teaches online, face-to-face, and using a blended format at the University of West Florida. He has taught twoway interactive corrections courses across several campuses of the University of Alabama system and has supervised more than 50 master’s and doctoral students. Dr. Smykla earned the interdisciplinary social science PhD in criminal justice, sociology, and anthropology from Michigan State University. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology from California State University at Northridge.

Dr. Smykla has authored or edited four corrections books. His coauthored data set Executions in the United States, 1608–2003: The Espy File is one of the most frequently requested criminal justice data files from the University of Michigan’s Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.

Dr. Smykla has published more than 40 research articles on corrections issues, including “The Human Impact of Capital Punishment,” “Effects of a Prison Facility on the Regional Economy,” “Jail Type and Inmate Behavior,” “Juvenile Drug Courts,” and, most recently, “Correctional Privatization and the Myth of Inherent Efficiency.” Dr. Smykla has delivered more than 50 conference papers in the United States and abroad. In 1986, he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Argentina and Uruguay.

Dr. Smykla is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the Southern Criminal Justice Association. In 1996, the Southern Criminal Justice Association named him Educator of the Year. In 1997, he served as program chair for the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. In 2000, he served as president of the Southern Criminal Justice Association. Dr. Smykla is a member of the Mobile County Metro Jail Planning Committee and a member of Friends of the Holman Prison Faith- Based Restorative Justice Honor Dorm, Atmore, Alabama.