George Lee Kelling (August 21, 1935 – May 15, 2019) was an American criminologist, a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University–Newark, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He previously taught at Northeastern University.

Biography

Born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, Kelling attended Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary to study

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

for two years, but earned no degree. He received a B.A. in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, an M.S.W. from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in social welfare from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1973, under Alfred Kadushin. Early in his career, he was a child care counselor and a

probation officer A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...

, but his later career was spent in academia. The author of numerous articles, he developed the broken windows theory with James Q. Wilson and Kelling's wife, Catherine M. Coles that led to the mass incarceration of

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

in impoverished U.S. cities beginning in the mid-1980s. Kelling died in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

on May 15, 2019 from complications of cancer at the age of 83.

Personal life

Kelling was married twice, first to Sally Jean Mosiman, from whom he became divorced, and then to Catherine M. Coles, an attorney and a lawyer and anthropologist studying urban issues and criminal prosecution, whom Kelling married in 1982.

References

External links

Kelling's page at Rutgers–Newark

* 1935 births 2019 deaths Writers from Milwaukee Academics from Minnesota People from Boston American criminologists Northeastern University faculty Rutgers University faculty Harvard University staff Luther Seminary alumni St. Olaf College alumni University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work alumni University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Probation and parole officers Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Deaths from cancer in New Hampshire {{Criminologist-stub