~RGVRC Affiliate Scholar~

Thomas Abt is the VRC’s founding director and an associate research professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Abt teaches, studies, and advises on the use of evidence-informed approaches for reducing violence in the United States and globally. He is the author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence—and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. Abt’s work is cited in academic journals and featured in media outlets including the Atlantic, Economist, New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, PBS, and National Public Radio. His TED talk on community violence has been viewed more than 200,000 times.

Abt also serves as a senior fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice in Washington, DC, where he chaired its Violent Crime Working Group. Prior to the Council, Abt worked as a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy and Law Schools. Before Harvard, Abt served as deputy secretary for public safety to Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York, where he oversaw all criminal justice, homeland security, and emergency management agencies. Before New York, Abt served as chief of staff to the Office of Justice Programs at the US Department of Justice, where he worked with USDOJ’s criminal justice grant-making and research agencies to integrate evidence, policy, and practice.

Over the course of his career, Abt has advised hundreds of public officials on the use of evidence-informed anti-crime strategies, both domestically and abroad.