Randall G. Shelden received his doctoral degree in sociology from the Southern Illinois University in 1976. He is a professor of criminal justice at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV) and is also a senior research fellow with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. He received his master's degree in sociology at Memphis State University and doctoral degree in sociology at Southern Illinois University. He is the author or co-author of 20 books, including: Crime and Criminal Justice in American Society (second edition, co-authored with William B. Brown, Randal Fritzler and Karen Miller); Girls, Delinquency and Juvenile Justice (4th edition), with Meda Chesney-Lind (which received the Hindelang Award for outstanding contribution to Criminology in 1992); Youth Gangs in American Society 4th edition.), with Sharon Tracy and William B. Brown; Controlling the Dangerous Classes: The History of Criminal Justice, co-authored with Pavel Vasiliev (3rd edition); Delinquency and Juvenile Justice in American Society, co-authored with Emily Troshynski (3rd edition); Juvenile Justice in America: Problems and Prospects (co-edited with Daniel Macallair) and Our Punitive Society. He is also the author of more than 50 journal articles and book chapters on the subject of crime and justice. In addition, he has written more than 100 commentaries appearing in local and regional newspapers. He was the recipient of the UNLV Alumni Award for Outstanding Teacher in 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, and 1993. Also, he received the Outstanding Research Award for the College of Urban Affairs in 2006. He is the co-editor of the Justice Policy Journal which is affiliated with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco.