Leana Bouffard

Dr. Leana Bouffard joined the Department of Sociology as Professor and Chair in July of 2017. She was previously on the faculty at Sam Houston State University, Washington State University, North Dakota State University, and Indiana University. As Chair of the Department of Sociology at Iowa State University, she leads undergraduate degree programs in Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Agriculture & Society, as well as masters and doctoral programs in Sociology. Her research interests include life course and developmental approaches to understanding offending, including the impact of various life events (e.g., military service and parenting/parenthood) on offending patterns. She also conducts research on violence against women, police response to domestic violence and sexual assault incidents, and sexual aggression among college students. Dr. Bouffard was identified as an “academic star” in 2007 in a study of publication trajectories of recent female criminology and criminal justice Ph.D.’s. She received her Ph.D. (2001) and M.A. (1998) in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. She also has a B.S. in Psychology (1995) from Duke University.