Tzu-Ying Lo, PhD

Tzu-Ying (Michelle) Lo, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security at The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies. Her research focuses on violence, victimization, and the victim-offender overlap among youth in juvenile correctional facilities. She draws on nationally representative data from the United States and Taiwan, which allows her to examine these issues across different cultural and correctional contexts.

Her scholarship has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Criminal Justice, Victims & Offenders, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Journal of Crime and Justice, Policing: An International Journal, Crime Science, Violence and Victims, Police Practice and Research, Deviant Behavior, Methodological Innovations, and Journal of Criminology. Beyond juvenile justice, her published work addresses public attitudes toward the police, people’s feelings of safety, the professional conduct of correctional officers, the illegal wildlife trade, and the use of big data to measure crime victimization.

In 2026, Dr. Lo was the sole recipient of the Ivan Sun Young Scholar Outstanding Research Award from the Association of Chinese Criminology and Criminal Justice (ACCCJ). Her earlier honors include the Niederhoffer Award from the Criminal Justice Doctoral Program at John Jay College, the Student Research Award from the Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and a four-year doctoral scholarship from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, for which she was the only awardee in criminology that year.

Dr. Lo also brings over 12 years of law enforcement experience in Taiwan. Prior to her academic career in the U.S., she served as a Senior Investigator in the Economic Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, where she held a two-line, three-star rank, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. She previously held positions with the New Taipei City Police Department, the Taipei City Police Department, and the Kaohsiung Harbor Police Bureau. This experience continues to inform both her research and her teaching.

At St. John’s, Dr. Lo teaches undergraduate courses on criminological theory, policing, and the criminal justice system, as well as a graduate course on ethical leadership. Her classes are interactive and discussion-based, and she makes complex theories accessible by connecting them to real-world events and everyday experience. She mentors undergraduate researchers through the Ozanam Scholars Program and as research assistants on her juvenile justice projects, and she chairs a doctoral dissertation in the Doctor of Professional Studies in Homeland Security program.

Dr. Lo holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and an M.A. and a B.A. from Central Police University in Taiwan. She speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese Hokkien.

Courses Taught