The Rutgers School of Criminal Justice (SCJ) today announced that Matt Larson will join the faculty as Associate Professor of Research and serve as the inaugural Managing Director of the CLEAR Institute (Corrections Leadership, Evidence and Advancement for Reform).  

Larson will lead the CLEAR Institute’s mission to advance humane, effective, and equitable corrections and sentencing practices through collaborative, policy-relevant research and training. Working in partnership with state agencies, community organizations, and NJ-STEP (New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons), he will oversee the Institute’s research initiatives and grant-funded projects, build partnerships with criminal justice agencies and policymakers, supervise graduate scholars, and help shape the Institute’s public voice through publications and policy engagement.  

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Larson to Rutgers to lead the CLEAR Institute as we launch this exciting new initiative,” said Nancy La Vigne, Dean of SCJ. “His combination of rigorous scholarship, practitioner relationships, and community partnerships makes him an ideal leader to build this institute.”

Larson joins Rutgers from Wayne State University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2014, most recently serving as Associate Professor and Director of Implementation for the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice since 2022. Larson earned his Ph.D. in Criminology & Criminal Justice from Arizona State University, and his research has appeared in leading journals including Criminology, Justice Quarterly, the Journal of Criminal Justice, and the Journal of Youth & Adolescence. He has earned over $6 million in external research grants during his career from a variety of federal, county, and philanthropic partners, including the National Institute of Justice, National Science Foundation, and Public Welfare Foundation.

In addition to his scholarship, Larson has a strong record of community-engaged work. He led Wayne State’s 2016 adoption of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program at the Detroit Reentry Center and later supported the university’s establishment of a BA-granting prison education program in 2025. From 2021 until his move to New Jersey, he served as a gubernatorial appointee on Michigan’s Correctional Officer’s Training Council. Larson also co-founded JUST POETRY, a community event that uses poetry and spoken word to bring together police officers, children of incarcerated parents, and crime survivors to explore what justice means to different people. 

“I am honored to be selected as the inaugural managing director of the CLEAR Institute and to become a part of such an authoritative community of scholars at SCJ,” said Larson, who will also teach at the school. “CLEAR’s compass will be the people shaping policy, the people working within it, and the people and places impacted by it. I’m thankful for this opportunity and can’t wait to get started.”