John MacDonald is a Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor MacDonald focuses primarily on the study of crime, race and ethnic disparities in criminal justice, and the effect of public policy responses on crime. In 2012, John won the Association of Public Policy and Management’s David N. Kershaw Award, established to honor individuals younger than 40 who have made significant contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management. He has served as a principal investigator and co-principal investigator on health, injury prevention, and crime research projects through funding provided by the American Statistical Association, the National Institute of Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. He was awarded the Young Experimental Scholar Award by the Academy of Experimental Criminology for significant contributions to experimental research. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology.
John’s research publications include numerous studies using rigorous quantitative methods to examine the effects of social policies on crime and of institutional social justice reforms on criminal justice practices. His recent work on racial disparities in criminal justice has appeared in the American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, and Justice Quarterly.