In Memoriam
C. Ron Huff
Professor of Criminology, Law & Society
UC Irvine
1945-2019
C. Ron Huff, passed away on March 31, 2019 in San Clemente, California. A long-time professor in Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine and at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, Ron served as Dean of the School of Social Ecology at UCI and Director of the John Glenn College at OSU, where he also served as Director of the Criminal Justice Research Center.
Ron began his interest in the field working in corrections in Ohio, after receiving a MSW degree from the University of Michigan. He earned a doctorate in sociology from Ohio State in 1974, studying criminology with Sy Dinitz. After teaching at UC Irvine and Purdue, Ron returned to Ohio State, where he produced a distinguished body of research and established himself as a great academic administrator. He came to UC Irvine in 1999 to lead the School of Social Ecology, which he did for more than a decade, before returning to the faculty to focus full-time on his teaching and scholarship. He continued to produce impressive scholarship and undertake innovative teaching (such as creating an online course that quickly became a favorite).
Ron’s scholarly legacy includes at least three major lines of influence: formative work on the idea and importance of wrongful convictions, research and policy recommendations about youth gangs, and a career-long dedication to the obligations of the public university in scholarship and education about pressing issues of policy.
Ron was one of the first scholars to emphasize the problem of wrongful convictions and his early work along these lines helped bring research and scholarship on miscarriages of justice into the center of criminology and public policy debates. He began researching and writing about innocence among the convicted before most believed that systematic research on the topic was a realistic possibility and when most policy-oriented research in criminal justice was focused on crime reduction and prevention. His books (Convicted but Innocent with A. Rattner, and E. Sagarin and Wrongful Conviction with Martin Killias) are foundational to the field.
Ron’s scholarship has stimulated an extensive amount of academic and policy work on theory and research about gangs. Ron and his colleagues used multiple methods to study gang formation and behavior, to assess police and other intervention methods and to analyze official gang definitions and recording of gang members. His three edited volumes, Gangs in America, brought foundational research to the field.
In all, Ron authored a dozen books and over 100 journal articles. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology and served as President of the American Society of Criminology, and on dozens of committees and councils of the ASC. His many honors included the Donald Cressey Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the Paul Tappan Award from the Western Society of Criminology, the Herbert Bloch Award and the August Vollmer Award from the American Society of Criminology, and the Gerhard O.W. Mueller International Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice.
Ron served tirelessly as a consultant to national and state agencies and courts about innocence, gangs, youth violence, and public policy, such as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the F.B.I. National Academy, and the American Bar Association committee on wrongful convictions. In retirement, he continued to offer his expertise to those working in the criminal justice system who sought to understand gangs, prevent miscarriages of justice, and otherwise ensure that public policy and practice ensured justice.
At UC Irvine, Ron led the School of Social Ecology for ten years. He became well known for asking three questions: What’s good for the public? What’s good for the University of California? And, what’s good for the School of Social Ecology? With these questions as his guide, he served the public, UCI, and Social Ecology exceptionally well. As he did so he became known for his fundamental decency and his daily acts of kindness. With his leadership, we maintained and further strengthened a "culture of civility" in our School. The tie that binds Ron’s scholarly interests together with his administrative contributions was his belief that basic research is essential for sound public policy and that public universities have an obligation to learn and to teach about how vital that connection is.
At UCI, Ron was widely and justifiably admired by his faculty, and by his colleague deans and vice chancellors, for fairness and decency in administration. And in every way--in his scholarship, in his teaching and in his stewardship of the university--Ron was driven by the highest standards of excellence. His great optimism and sense of humor were unfailing. For these and so many more reasons, he will be greatly missed.
Ron is survived by his wife of 51 years, Patricia Huff, and by daughters Tamara Connor (and Michael) and Tiffany Huff and by granddaughters Skylar and Hazel. All of us recall a conversation with Ron that inevitably came around to a loving comment about one or another family member; one quickly understood that his family meant the world to him.
Michael Gottfredson, Professor
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Valerie Jenness, Professor
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Cheryl Maxson, Professor
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Carroll Seron, Professor Emeritus
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Ron began his interest in the field working in corrections in Ohio, after receiving a MSW degree from the University of Michigan. He earned a doctorate in sociology from Ohio State in 1974, studying criminology with Sy Dinitz. After teaching at UC Irvine and Purdue, Ron returned to Ohio State, where he produced a distinguished body of research and established himself as a great academic administrator. He came to UC Irvine in 1999 to lead the School of Social Ecology, which he did for more than a decade, before returning to the faculty to focus full-time on his teaching and scholarship. He continued to produce impressive scholarship and undertake innovative teaching (such as creating an online course that quickly became a favorite).
Ron’s scholarly legacy includes at least three major lines of influence: formative work on the idea and importance of wrongful convictions, research and policy recommendations about youth gangs, and a career-long dedication to the obligations of the public university in scholarship and education about pressing issues of policy.
Ron was one of the first scholars to emphasize the problem of wrongful convictions and his early work along these lines helped bring research and scholarship on miscarriages of justice into the center of criminology and public policy debates. He began researching and writing about innocence among the convicted before most believed that systematic research on the topic was a realistic possibility and when most policy-oriented research in criminal justice was focused on crime reduction and prevention. His books (Convicted but Innocent with A. Rattner, and E. Sagarin and Wrongful Conviction with Martin Killias) are foundational to the field.
Ron’s scholarship has stimulated an extensive amount of academic and policy work on theory and research about gangs. Ron and his colleagues used multiple methods to study gang formation and behavior, to assess police and other intervention methods and to analyze official gang definitions and recording of gang members. His three edited volumes, Gangs in America, brought foundational research to the field.
In all, Ron authored a dozen books and over 100 journal articles. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology and served as President of the American Society of Criminology, and on dozens of committees and councils of the ASC. His many honors included the Donald Cressey Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the Paul Tappan Award from the Western Society of Criminology, the Herbert Bloch Award and the August Vollmer Award from the American Society of Criminology, and the Gerhard O.W. Mueller International Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice.
Ron served tirelessly as a consultant to national and state agencies and courts about innocence, gangs, youth violence, and public policy, such as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the F.B.I. National Academy, and the American Bar Association committee on wrongful convictions. In retirement, he continued to offer his expertise to those working in the criminal justice system who sought to understand gangs, prevent miscarriages of justice, and otherwise ensure that public policy and practice ensured justice.
At UC Irvine, Ron led the School of Social Ecology for ten years. He became well known for asking three questions: What’s good for the public? What’s good for the University of California? And, what’s good for the School of Social Ecology? With these questions as his guide, he served the public, UCI, and Social Ecology exceptionally well. As he did so he became known for his fundamental decency and his daily acts of kindness. With his leadership, we maintained and further strengthened a "culture of civility" in our School. The tie that binds Ron’s scholarly interests together with his administrative contributions was his belief that basic research is essential for sound public policy and that public universities have an obligation to learn and to teach about how vital that connection is.
At UCI, Ron was widely and justifiably admired by his faculty, and by his colleague deans and vice chancellors, for fairness and decency in administration. And in every way--in his scholarship, in his teaching and in his stewardship of the university--Ron was driven by the highest standards of excellence. His great optimism and sense of humor were unfailing. For these and so many more reasons, he will be greatly missed.
Ron is survived by his wife of 51 years, Patricia Huff, and by daughters Tamara Connor (and Michael) and Tiffany Huff and by granddaughters Skylar and Hazel. All of us recall a conversation with Ron that inevitably came around to a loving comment about one or another family member; one quickly understood that his family meant the world to him.
Michael Gottfredson, Professor
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Valerie Jenness, Professor
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Cheryl Maxson, Professor
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Carroll Seron, Professor Emeritus
Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
