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Criminologist Hans Toch Receives Distinguished "Prix DeGreff" Award

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

	Hans Toch

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 2, 2005) -- Social psychologist and SUNY Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice Hans Toch will be honored with the "Prix DeGreff" award for distinction in clinical criminology at the World Congress of Criminology.

Toch, who was selected for the honor by the International Society of Criminology Board of Directors, will attend the conference and receive the award Aug. 7�11 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

"Since the founding of the School of Criminal Justice, Professor Toch has been instrumental in setting high standards of intellectual rigor for the School's educational and research programs," said School of Criminal Justice Dean Julie Horney. "Those standards have always been reflected in his own research, which has had a major impact on both theory and practice in our field. We are delighted that the International Society of Criminology is honoring his work with this well-deserved prize."

A prolific writer on corrections and criminal offenders, Toch has penned eight books since 1975, including a 1997 collection of essays on prison and prisoner reform entitled Corrections: A Humanistic Approach (Harrow and Heston), which was instrumental in his selection for the honor.

Craig Haney, chair of sociology and professor of psychology of the University of California, Santa Cruz, described Toch as "...simply the sanest, wisest, most thoughtful voice speaking about corrections in the country."

The award ceremony will include a processional of the heads of more than 30 worldwide societies of criminology, and will feature opening addresses by Professor Lawrence Sherman, director of the Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the society, and by Professor Susanne Karstedt of the Department of Criminology at Keele University (U.K.).

The prestigious award comes on the heels of the U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the UAlbany graduate program in criminal justice as second in the nation.