01.

About Me

Rachel E. Lovell, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Criminology and Director of the Criminology Research Center in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. 

As criminologist and methodoloist, she specializes in applied research and evaluation, collaborating closely with criminal justice agencies, community organizations, and public service systems. 

Her work focuses on violence and vicitmization, inclduing sexual assault, sexual assault kits, human trafficking, intimate partner violence, and gun violence. 

An accomplished scholar, Dr. Lovell has secured over $8 million in external funding since 2013, published nearly a hundred peer-review articles, book chapters, and reports, and is the lead editor of the monograph, Sexual Assualt Kits and Reforming the Response to Rape by Routledge Press.

Her research has been featured in The Atlantic, Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Pro Publica, and Sports Illustrated

Research Interests

Gender-based violence; sexual assault/rape; human trafficking, intimate partner violence, gun violence; applied research; victimology; evaluation; program evaluation; quantitative methodology  


Teaching Interests

Victimology; criminology; statistics; evaluation; program evaluation; interpersonal violence; research methods


02.

Education & Employment

PhD, Sociology

The Ohio State University, 2007

MA, Sociology

Baylor University, 2001

BA, Sociology

Baylor University, 2000

Cleveland State University

Associate Professor, 2025-present
Assistant Professor, 2021-2025

Case Western Reserve University

Research Assistant Professor, 2019-2021
Senior Research Associate, 2012-2019

DePaul University

Senior Research Methodologist, 2009-2012

Learning Point Associates

Research Associate, 2008-2009