Michael Jacobson

Michael Jacobson is the director of the City University of New York's (CUNY) Institute for State and Local Governance and a professor of sociology at CUNY’s Graduate Center. Prior to joining CUNY in May 2013 he was the director of the Vera Institute of Justice for almost nine years. He is the author ofDownsizing Prisons: How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration (New York University Press 2005). A PhD in sociology, he has an ongoing academic career as well as more than twenty five years of government service. From 1998 to 2005, he was a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and CUNY’s Graduate Center. He was the commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction from 1995 to 1998. From 1992 to 1996, he was the commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation. He also worked in the New York City Office of Management and Budget from 1984 to 1992 where he was the deputy budget director. He is also the Board Chair of the Criminal Justice Agency--New York City’s pretrial agency.