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Dr. William Crawley

William Crawley

  • Position: Professor
  • Department: Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
  • Office Location: Building 85, Room 113
  • wcrawley@uwf.edu
  • Campus: 850.474.3246

Biography

Dr. William Crawley has more than 25 years in higher education, including 20+ years in various academic leadership positions at multiple institutions such as dean, associate dean, international campus director, executive director of philanthropy, department chair, and grants coordinator. In 2014, Dr. Crawley was appointed to dean of the newly created UWF College of Education and Professional Studies.

Dr. Crawley is an accomplished educator, scholar, and academic leader. As a first-generation college student, he understands and is deeply committed to the profound impact of education and mentoring. Throughout his career he has worked to extend access and equity in education, andragogical innovation and curricular design, and faculty and staff professional development. To best prepare students for the rapidly evolving careers he has integrated technology into the curriculum of all the disciplines under his supervision.

Dr. Crawley is a prolific author and presenter, sharing his work at more than 60 symposia and conferences, most recently presenting on the topic of Covid Learning Loss to the 2022 Oxford International Roundtable. Dr. Crawley has disseminated his research via peer-reviewed journal articles, books, monographs, technical reports, and book chapters.

Specializing in interdisciplinary and transformational leadership – leadership behavior that draws out and nurtures the highest levels of human potential and enhances organizational performance – Dr. Crawley is an innovative leader, author, and presenter whose research has informed his work in the classroom, as a peer reviewer and editor of scholarship, as an academic administrator, and through collaborations with government and community-based organizations.

With leadership at the core of his work, Dr. Crawley’s research interest has led him to be extensively involved in public-service and community-based initiatives, where he has led more than $8 million in grant funding. Because of his organizational leadership experience Dr. Crawley is frequently invited to serve on non-profit executive boards. For example, he currently serves as co-president of the Gulf Coast Freedom School, an out-of-school literacy program for early and middle school students.

Degrees & Institutions

Dr. Crawley grew up in Iowa, where he earned two undergraduate degrees: a B.S. in resource management from Iowa State University, and a B.A. from the University of Iowa in Asian studies and Japanese language. He continued his education at the University of South Carolina, receiving a master’s degree in criminal justice and a graduate certification in drug and alcohol studies. He next earned a Ph.D. in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and has completed doctoral coursework in Interdisciplinary Leadership at Creighton University.

Continuing his professional leadership development, he completed the Management Development Program (MDP) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, earned an executive certificate in Strategy and Innovation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, took a certificate in Communications from the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and most recently completed the University of Oxford’s Executive Finance Programme.

Leadership Positions and Recognition

Service

  • International Board of Governors, Japanese U.S. Teacher Education Consortium (JUSTEC)
  • National Board of Directors, Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED)
  • Grant Advisory Board, National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Co-President, Board of Directors, Central Gulf Coast Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools
  • Leadership Council, Take Stock in Children (Escambia County, FL)
  • Task Force Member/Fiscal Agent, Project Safe Neighborhoods, US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan (WDMI)

Scholarly Appointments

  • 2022 Nippon Fellow, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASC&U) Japan Studies Institute (JSI)
  • 2018 Visiting Scholar, Japanese Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU), Hikone, Japan
  • 2016 Visiting Scholar, Japanese Center for Michigan Universities
  • 2014 Visiting Scholar, Japanese Center for Michigan Universities
  • 2010 ACE Fellow, American Council on Education (ACE), DePaul University (Chicago)
  • 2009 Research and Teaching Fellowship, Japanese Center for Michigan Universities

Teaching Excellence

  • 2009 Outstanding Faculty Mentor award, Grand Valley State University (GVSU)
  • 2007 Faculty Mentor award, Grand Valley State University
  • 2007 Excellence in Teaching award, Panhellenic Association
  • 2006 Outstanding Teaching award, Grand Valley State University-Pew Campus