Dr. Kierkus grew up in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Windsor where he received his B.A. degree in Criminology. He then completed an M.A. in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, and a second M.A., as well as a Ph.D., in Criminal Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. Dr. Kierkus has been teaching for approximately 12 years.
Dr. Kierkus' scholarship is focused on the role of family, gender and relationships in the causation of delinquency. He is also interested in applied criminal justice policy issues; particularly as they relate to youth crime and firearms control.
Dr. Kierkus teaches a variety of courses at GVSU: including introduction to criminal justice (CJ 101), qualitative (CJ 400/600) and quantitative (CJ 300) research methods, graduate level data analysis (CJ 608), criminology (at both the undergraduate and graduate levels – CJ 201, 607), graduate program/policy evaluation (CJ 605), youth culture and crime (CJ 355), juvenile justice processes (CJ 350), crime control and justice policy (CJ 470), and the senior capstone (CJ 495). He also supervises both graduate and undergraduate projects and theses.

Dr. Kierkus is involved in various faculty governance activities at GVSU. At present, he is a member of the GVSU Undergraduate Research Council (URC), the CCPS Advisory Committee, the CCPS Curriculum Committee, the SCJ Graduate Program Committee, the SCJ Undergraduate Program Committee, and the Interdisciplinary Juvenile Justice Minor Final Plan Group.