Awards

Distinguished Alumni Service Award - 1974

About Donald R. Cressey

Donald Ray Cressey was a scholar, internationally renowned and respected for the light he shed on broad areas of criminology. He symbolizes the potential for human benefit from social research; the range of his appointments in this country and abroad extended from academic posts to federal commissions, from special consultative assignments to participation on international panels. Cressey refused to narrowly focus his specialty, and chose instead to objectively explore crime, delinquency, criminal justice and corrections. He contributed to both theoretical conceptualizations and to guidance in their practical application, fostering an interdisciplinary approach.

Throughout his career, Cressey managed to successfully balance the demands of his teaching, research, consultation, and lecturing, and even spared time to record his findings in a prodigious number of publications, and rendered editorial service in key posts for his profession. Among the many recognitions he was accorded, for his creative impact upon his field of study, is one doubly significant to his Alma Mater; the Edwin A. Sutherland Research Award of the American Society of Criminology.