Faculty Profiles

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 85, Room 160

Dr. Nicholas Hasan Buker is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies. His teaching and research interests cover juvenile delinquency/justice, policing, criminological theory, and administration of CJ organizations, among others.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 70, Room 112

Jennifer L. Brinkley has a J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law, practiced law and taught at both the University of Colorado at Denver and at Western Kentucky University before joining UWF in 2019.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 85, Room 113

Dr. William Crawley has more than 25 years in higher education, including 20+ years in various academic leadership positions

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 85, Room 152

Dr. Matthew Crow teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses on Criminal Justice Theory, Judicial Process, Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice, and many other subjects.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 70, Room 106

Lee Christine Gaul is the newest addition to the Department of Legal Studies. For her undergraduate degree she studied at the University of Miami, FL and majored in History and Speech Communications on academic scholarship.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 85, Room 153

Dr. Natalie Goulette, who has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, conducts research on judicial matters as part of her work as an associate professor at UWF’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 85, Room 151

Dr. Chrystina Y. Hoffman joined the faculty at the University of West Florida in Fall 2019 and conducts research, broadly, on victimization.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  FWB - Building 4, Room 458

Dr. Kathrine Johnson is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of UWF’s Criminal Justice Program at its Fort Walton Beach campus.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 85, Room 148

Dr. Nicole Niebuhr earned her doctoral degree from Sam Houston State University. Her research interests include criminal careers, corrections, criminological theory and program evaluation.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 70, Room 108

Charles “Charlie” Penrod, an Associate Professor of Legal Studies, has conducted research on copyright law, unemployment law, business law and cyber crime, among other topics.

• Department: Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Office Location:  Building 85

Dr. Cheryl Swanson, Department of Criminal Justice, was awarded Professor Emeritus status in 2013. She has taught numerous graduate and undergraduate courses.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 70, Room 112

Susan W. Harrell, who has a Juris Doctorate degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, is an emeritus professor in the Legal Studies Program.

• Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
• Office Location:  Building 77, Room 147

Harold M. (Hal) White, Jr. is Emeritus Professor of Ethics, Law & Policy. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of UWF from 2002 to 2010.