Jacob Erickson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Wichita State University before completing his Ph.D at Iowa State University. He was previously an Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University (2020-2023) before joining the department at UNLV (Fall 2023). Dr. Erickson's work considers identity and decision-making processes of those involved in deviant and criminal behavior and pays special attention to drug involvement and violent crime. He uses both quantitative and qualitative methods in his scholarship.

Dr. Erickson was the winner of the 2022 MacNamara Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) for his article "Meth Cooking as a Job: Identity and Dirty Work" and has published articles in various scholarly outlets such as Justice Quarterly, American Journal of Criminal Justice, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Deviant Behavior, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Education and Urban Society.