![grf-matt-ruther.jpg Portrait of Matt Ruther](/sites/g/files/xyckuh171/files/styles/large/public/images/2019-06/grf-matt-ruther.jpg?itok=nX6MR0jX)
Matt Ruther (2010 Fellow) is an assistant professor of urban and public affairs at the University of Louisville and the director of the Kentucky State Data Center. He carries out policy-oriented and population-related research that is important to cities. His recent work has focused on immigration and domestic migration, crime policy and the structural determinants of crime, and neighborhood growth and development. The NIJ GRF was instrumental in my dissertation research, as it allowed me time to fully explore the immigration-crime nexus and further develop the spatial modeling skills required for my work, he says. It's also a great opportunity for an early career researcher to become exposed to the federal grant-funding mechanism.