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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENIJ
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1998202/307-0703

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHES NEW INTERNATIONAL CENTER

Dr. James O. Finckenauer Appointed First Director

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) announced today the establishment of a new International Center and named Dr. James O. Finckenauer as its first Director. The International Center will disseminate information derived from research, evaluation and practice concerning crime and justice issues. The International Center will also serve as liaison to all international activities involving the Office of Justice Programs (OJP).

"We are very excited about the new Center and the important role it will play within NIJ and, more importantly, in the international criminal justice community," said NIJ Director Jeremy Travis. "The appointment of Jim Finckenauer as the Center's first director is evidence of NIJ's long-standing commitment to excellence in criminal justice research, evaluation and practice."

NIJ's International Center has several broad goals: disseminate criminal justice information worldwide, create global criminal justice research partnerships, connect criminal justice researchers and practitioners around the world, particularly through the use of technology.

Dr. Finckenauer is on leave from the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, where he is a professor of criminal justice. Over the past 24 years at Rutgers, he has served as Department Chair and Acting Dean of the School of Criminal Justice. Dr. Finckenauer's research and teaching interests include juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency, criminal justice policy, planning, evaluation and organized crime. He has published numerous articles and reports, as well as authoring or co-authoring six books.

Dr. Finckenauer's most intensive international research activity has been in the former Soviet Union and, in particular, Russia, where he has been studying both juvenile and organized crime. His 1995 book, Russian Youth, reports on his comparative study of American and Russian children. His most recent research examined Russian emigre organized crime networks in the United States. The book based upon this research, Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture and Crime, will be published this fall.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Justice, is the primary sponsor of criminal justice research and evaluations of programs to reduce crime. For additional information about NIJ, the Internet address is https://ojp.gov/nij.

General information about the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is available at https://ojp.gov.

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NIJ 99-010

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