Gennaro F. Vito

Gennaro F. Vito is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Louisville. He also serves as a faculty member in the Administrative Officer’s Course at the Southern Police Institute where he offers a course on criminal justice leadership (CJ 578). He holds a PhD. in Public Administration from The Ohio State University. Active in professional organizations, he is a Past President, Fellow, and recipient of the Bruce Smith Award (2012) of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He served as the editor of The American Journal of Criminal Justice (1987-1991). He has been recognized as one of the “Top 25 Criminal Justice Professors” by the Forensic Colleges web site as ranked by the U.S. News & World Report’s criminology ratings. The University of Louisville has also awarded him the Dean’s Outstanding Performance Award for Research in the former College of Urban and Public Affairs (1990), the same award for the College of Arts and Sciences (2002), the President’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship (2002), and the Distinguished University Scholar Award (2008). Pursuant to his research agenda, Dr. Vito has been principal or co-principal investigator on 37 research grant projects. He has published over 100 professional, refereed journal articles (in such journals as Criminology, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Police Quarterly, and The Prison Journal), 18 book chapters, 8 book reviews and 43 technical research reports. He has published on such topics as: capital sentencing, police consolidation, police leadership, police traffic stops, policing strategies for drug problems in public housing, attitudes toward capital punishment, and the effectiveness of criminal justice programs, such as drug elimination programs, drug courts, and drug testing of probationers and parolees. He has made 125 presentations at professional meetings, including invited sessions to practitioners on capital sentencing and police leadership. He is the co-author of eleven textbooks in criminal justice and criminology including Police Leadership and Administration: A 21st Century Strategic Approach (Elsevier, 2025).