Gary LaFree

Projects:

• Predisposing Root Causes of Terrorism
• Distinctive Characteristics of Terrorist Groups
• Dynamics of Terror and Counterterrorism
• Modeling Risk of Future Terrorist Attacks
• Empirical Analysis of IED Attacks
• Global Terrorism Database (GTD)

Contact Information:

University of Maryland
Director, START
301.405.6600
glafree@msn.com

Education

Ph.D., Sociology, Indiana University, 1979.

About Gary LaFree

Gary LaFree is Director of the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, as well as professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. He received his PhD in Sociology from Indiana University in 1979. Dr. LaFree was named a fellow of the American Society of Criminology in 2007. He has served as President of the American Society of Criminology (ASC; 2005-2006), Chair of the ASC’s Division on International Criminology (1991-1993), Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Crime, Law and Deviance (1991-1993), and has been a member of the Executive Board of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation (2001-2006) and the Executive Committee of the Justice Research Statistics Association (2000-2001; 1993-1994). Dr. LaFree was also a founding member of the Democracy Collaborative and an invited member of the National Consortium of Violence Research. Before joining the faculty at Maryland, Dr. LaFree served as the Chair of the Sociology and Criminology Department at the University of New Mexico for six years and as the Director of the New Mexico Criminal Justice Statistics Analysis Center for thirteen years. Dr. LaFree was appointed by the Governor of New Mexico to chair the State Crime and Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council—a position that he filled for four years. Dr. LaFree received the G. Paul Sylvestre Award for outstanding achievements in advancing criminal justice statistics in 1994, and the Phillip Hoke Award for excellence in applied research in 1994 and 1998, from the Justice Research Statistics Association. LaFree has written over 70 articles and book chapters and three books and is currently on the editorial boards of eight journals. Much of his research at START involves development and analysis of the Global Terrorism Database.

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