Beverly Reece-Churchwell

Dr. Reece is an Associate Professor and the current Criminal Justice Program Coordinator in the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice. Dr. Reece is a KSU alumna where she received her B.S. in Criminal Justice. She is also a Georgia State University alumna where she received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Criminal Justice & Criminology. Prior to coming home to KSU, Dr. Reece taught at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. 

Dr. Reece's areas of expertise include institutional corrections and reentry, desistance from crime (life-course theoretical perspective), and juvenile delinquency. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Reece worked as a Cobb County State Court Clerk, as well as a paralegal for the Georgia State Patrol. Currently, Dr. Reece is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Cherokee County.

In addition, Dr. Reece is actively involved in research, and often has students assisting in these research projects. Her grant experience includes work with the Georgia Department of Public Health evaluating sexual violence prevention programs and child safety programs. In addition, she has worked with the North Carolina Department of Corrections evaluating PREA data, as well as at the Gwinnett County Jail, interviewing inmates about their reentry needs. In the past, she also assisted in a grant funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention evaluating a Big Brothers Big Sisters college mentoring program. Dr. Reece enjoys working closely with undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in research.

Dr. Reece has been awarded with the College of Humanities and Social Science (CHSS) & the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice (SCJ) Distinguished Early Career Awards in 2020. In 2019, she was awarded with Kennesaw State University’s Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award. In addition, she also received the 2019 CHSS and SCJ Outstanding Engagement Awards, and the the 2016 CHSS Outstanding Alumni Award. Students also have recognized Dr. Reece as their faculty honoree when receiving the Outstanding Senior Award both for the Criminal Justice (2021, 2018) and Sociology (2019) undergraduate programs, as well as for the Outstanding Scholar in the Masters of Criminal Justice Program (2024).