The NIJ Director

The Director is appointed by the President to lead the National Institute of Justice and establish the agency's objectives and research investments, guided by the needs of the field and the priorities of the U.S. Department of Justice. In March 2022, President Biden appointed Nancy La Vigne, Ph.D., to be Director of OJP’s National Institute of Justice. Dr. La Vigne was sworn in as Director on May 9, 2022. Learn more about Dr. La Vigne.

Director La Vigne's priorities include: 

• Fostering rigorous and inclusive research that informs efforts to promote safer communities and more equitable justice systems. This includes supporting research that engages the people closest to the issue — community members, crime survivors, criminal justice practitioners, people who have experienced incarceration, and business leaders — to guide data collection, help interpret findings, and identify implications of research findings for policy and practice.
  Watch Director La Vigne discuss inclusive research in a short video.
• Elevating studies that apply a racial equity lens. This includes recognizing that race and ethnicity often serve as proxies for structural inequality and providing an assessment of racially disparate impacts of programs, policies, and practices.
• Infusing evaluation research with a strong implementation fidelity component by supporting evaluations of the quality of implementation in the field and identifying both impacts and any unintended consequences.
• Encouraging interdisciplinary research that includes both quantitative and qualitative inquiries and examines net costs and benefits.
• Ensuring that research evidence is translated into actionable information to promote change in the field.

Messages from the Director

• October 7, 2024: "Public Criminology: Charting the Course from Evidence to Action," article in Translational Criminology
• October 1, 2024: "From the Director: Body Armor Standards Updated to Better Protect Those in the Line of Fire," article in Police Chief and on NIJ.ojp.gov
• August 28, 2023: "Promoting safer and more humane environments: The imperative of studying restrictive housing in corrections," Op-Ed, The Hill, by Director La Vigne and Collette S. Peters, Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
• August 21, 2023: "The Importance of Inclusive Research How Engaging People Closest to the Issue Makes for Better Science and Greater Impact," article, NIJ.ojp.gov
• July 7, 2023: "NIJ Puts Science to Work for Justice System Stakeholders," article, Open Access Government
• May 24, 2023: "Meet the OJP Science Directors: Nancy La Vigne and Alex Piquero Discuss the Future of Research and Statistics," video, NIJ.ojp.gov 
• May 23, 2023: "NIJ 2023 Research Conference Opening Ceremony," video, NIJ.ojp.gov
• May 15, 2023: "The United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network of Institutes Interviews NIJ Director La Vigne," article, PNI Newsletter
• March 7, 2023: Inclusive Research: Engaging with the People Closest to the Issue, video, NIJ.ojp.gov
• February 15, 2023: Director La Vigne Discusses Forensic Research and Development at NIJ, video, AAFS TV
• January 9, 2023: "Selling the Science: Our Collective Visions for the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics," article, Criminologist, by Director La Vigne and Alex R. Piquero, Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics,
• January 5, 2023: "Reliable data and research on crime is needed now more than ever," article, The Hill, by Director La Vigne and Alex R. Piquero, Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics
• December 7, 2022: "From the Director: Harnessing the Power of Data-Driven, Inclusive Research," article, Police Chief
• November 17, 2022: NIJ Director La Vigne Outlines NIJ’s Priorities at the American Society of Criminology’s 2022 Annual Meeting 
• November 15, 2022: "Getting the Most Out of Research Partnerships," article, Corrections Today.
• September 12, 2022: A New Vision for NIJ with Director Nancy La Vigne, podcast episode, NIJ.ojp.gov
• July 19, 2022: In Acceptance of the SEARCH 2022 Justice Policy Leadership Award, speech, SEARCH 2022
• June 7, 2022: Director Nancy La Vigne’s Vision, message, NIJ.ojp.gov
• May 24, 2022: Addresses the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, speech, American Society of Evidence-Based Policing

See a list of past Directors since 1969 and their speeches, remarks, and messages.