Rate My Professor James Willis

James J. Willis is Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminology, Law and Society within the social sciences at George Mason University. He earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from Yale University in 2000 and a B.A. with honors (summa cum laude) in Administration of Justice from The Pennsylvania State University in 1991. Elected department Chair in 2019, Willis has concentrated efforts on expanding graduate student support, reinforcing departmental infrastructure, cultivating a welcoming and productive work environment, and enhancing the department's national and international standing. His leadership also emphasizes strengthening alumni relations and advancing undergraduate opportunities in Criminology, Law and Society.

Willis's research specializations include police organizations and organizational reform, police discretion, police technology, and penal history. With over 2,500 citations on Google Scholar, his work has profoundly impacted criminology and policing studies. Seminal publications encompass 'Reforming to Preserve: Compstat and Strategic Problem Solving in American Policing' (2003, with David Weisburd, Stephen D. Mastrofski, Ann Marie McNally, and Roger Greenspan), 'Making Sense of COMPSTAT: A Theory-Based Analysis of Organizational Change in Three Police Departments' (2007, with Stephen D. Mastrofski and David Weisburd), 'Police Organization Continuity and Change: Into the Twenty-First Century' (2010, with Stephen D. Mastrofski), and 'Understanding the Limits of Technology’s Impact on Police Effectiveness' (2017, with Cynthia Lum and Christopher S. Koper). Recent contributions include the monograph 'Using the Police Craft to Improve Patrol Officer Decision-Making' (2023, with Heather Toronjo, Cambridge University Press), articles on body-worn cameras such as 'Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast' (2022), and studies on prosecutorial offices amid COVID-19 (2024-2025). Willis has directed or co-directed National Institute of Justice grants, including evaluations of license plate readers (2014-2018), body-worn cameras in organizational contexts (2018-2020), and multi-site technology implementation (2011-2014). Notable honors comprise the Law and Society Association’s Article Prize (2008), George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award (2011), and David W. Rossell Quill Award (2024) for leadership, teaching, and mission fulfillment. He presented the Police Foundation's 'Ideas in American Policing' lecture and contributed to the Center for Justice Leadership and Management's project on police craft.