CMSS welcomes new director, Dr. Erin Gibbs Van Brunschot

We are pleased to announce the appointment for a five-year term of Dr. Erin Gibbs Van Brunschot as the new director of CMSS, effective July 1, 2019.

An expert in crime and deviance, Gibbs Van Brunschot is the co-author of two books – Risk Balance and Security (Sage, 2008) and Risk in Crime (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009) – along with having written numerous journal articles, book chapters and research reports. She has received research funding from SSHRC and government agencies – most importantly from Alberta Justice for a large project on GPS Electronic Monitoring. Her recent work has included a focus on policing, crime and terrorism, including the determinants of “home-grown” terrorists and the state responses to terrorism. Her recent appointment at Utrecht University during her administrative leave this past year strengthened her interest in issues of security and exposed her to the dynamics within the European security field. Here in Calgary, she has worked with the Calgary Police Service on vital projects and has been an active media voice on issues related to crime and law enforcement.

Gibbs Van Brunschot will come to this position with a long and deep understanding of our university and an outstanding record of administrative experience. She is a two-time alumna of the University of Calgary, having earned both her BA and MA in Sociology at our institution. She then ventured up north, where she completed a PhD in Sociology at the University of Alberta. Gibbs Van Brunschot returned to her first alma mater to take up a positon as Assistant Professor in our Sociology Department, which she has helped shape in so many ways – while achieving promotion to Associate Professor and, more recently, Professor. Along the way, she served in a variety of administrative roles, including Graduate Program Director, Sociology; Associate Dean, Academic, Faculty of Social Sciences; Associate Dean, Finance and Human Resources, Faculty of Arts; Vice Dean and Associate Dean (Finance and Human Resources), Faculty of Arts; and Head, Department of Sociology. Along with many other service roles, she has been directly involved in CMSS as a member of the Board of Directors and as a Senior Fellow.