Faculty Spotlight Series: Scott Wolfe

July 31, 2019

Dr. Scott Wolfe is an Associate Professor with the School of Criminal Justice whose research interests include policing, organizational justice, legitimacy, and criminological theory (specifically predictors of crime behavior).

Scott was born in Michigan but raised in Ohio. First living near Toledo, then moving to the Columbus/Dublin Ohio area for his dad’s job. Scott received a Bachelor’s Degree from Ohio Northern University – Ada before pursuing a Master’s Degree in Justice Administration at the University of Louisville. Scott then moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University to earn his PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

After graduating from Arizona State University, Scott moved across the country to South Carolina where he worked at the University of South Carolina for five years. He then came to the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice in the Fall of 2017.

As a researcher, Scott says his most surprising finding came from his work with police agencies on the West Coast. Scott, and the team of researchers he was working with, found that roughly 30% of officer vehicular fatalities involved officers on motorcycles. While this finding didn’t stun the researchers, the agencies responses did. The agencies said that they wouldn’t give up the motorcycles because the motorcycle culture was so ingrained among their officers, that none of them wanted to give up their motorcycle.

Outside of work, Scott enjoys spending time with his family – Scott and his wife have three kids all under the age of ten. As a family they enjoy traveling, particularly to warmer climates. Scott says they have been to Disney World a couple of times, that he enjoys going on cruises when he gets the chance, and that he always enjoys visiting Charleston, South Carolina. In Charleston, Scott recommends the Swamp Fox Bar for some Shrimp and Grits. Scott is also an avid outdoorsman, spending time fishing for bass and walleye, or anything else that will bite. More recently, Scott has developed an interest in Whitetail hunting.