Dr. John P. Walsh is originally from Chicago, Illinois. He completed his
undergraduate degree at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale receiving a B.A.
degree in Administration of Justice with a minor in Philosophy. He then completed an M.A.
in Administration of Justice at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, as well as a
Ph.D. in Criminal Justice at Indiana University, Bloomington. In addition to his academic
degrees, Dr. Walsh has also served as a sworn police officer within the Chicago Police
Department and as a policy analyst within the Cook County, Illinois Sheriff’s Office and
the Cook County Department of Corrections.
Dr. Walsh has taught courses in policing, corrections, public policy, communities and
crime, criminological theory, research methods and the culture of crime and media. His
current research interests have focused on the culture and politics surrounding
overcrowded prisons and jails, incarceration ideologies and the reciprocal relationship
between incarceration and the community. He currently teaches Correctional Process (CJ
330) and Criminal Justice Administration (CJ 465) at GVSU.
