Jeff Mellow, PhD, Deputy Director

Dr. Jeff Mellow is Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College, Deputy Director of the Corrections Lab at John Jay College, and on the faculty of the Criminal Justice Doctoral Program at the Graduate Center, CUNY. With over 20 years of experience in the field, he has dedicated his career to researching and improving correctional systems both in the United States and internationally. His research and technical assistance focus on correctional issues including reentry planning and reintegration, program evaluation, and critical incidents within jail and prisons. He has developed resources for practitioners, including co-author of the Transition from Jail to Community Online Learning Resource, a National Institute of Corrections micro-site, that identifies the key elements necessary to implement the TJC Model to facilitate and provide successful reentry at the community level.

Dr. Mellow has worked with a range of local, state, and federal agencies, including the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the US Department of Justice, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Bureau of Justice Assistance. and the City of New York Department of Probation. His international work spans across Latin America and the Caribbean, where he has conducted research and provided technical assistance on projects related to prison overcrowding, rule of law, and strategic planning. Notably, he has led a project aimed at reducing overcrowding in Salvadoran prisons, combining research, training, and technical assistance and was co-PI on a project that surveyed prisoners' perceptions and experiences regarding due process, the rule of law, and life in Guatemalan, Honduran, and Panamanian prisons.

Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a commitment to improving correctional systems through research and technical solutions. His work has been recognized through over $8 million in external funding, supporting impactful projects that address critical challenges in the field of corrections. Dr. Mellow received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany of the State University of New York and B.A. in International Studies at American University.