Curriculum Vitae | K. Ryan Proctor, Ph.D.
(she/her/hers)
KristinaProctor@athena-institute.science
Senior Researcher
United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force
Executive Director
Athena Institute for Mechanistic Science
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Neurocriminology, Criminological Theory, Scientific Theory Integration, Theoretical Formalism, Transdisciplinary Research, Mechanistic Science, Sociological Theory, Organizations/Institutions, Statistics and Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
2018-2023 Associate Professor of Criminology and Sociology, Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri.
2012-2018 Assistant Professor of Criminology and Sociology, Department of Law and Justice Studies, Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri.
ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
2023-Present Executive Director/Director of Theoretical Initiatives. Athena Institute for Mechanistic Science. Kansas City, Missouri.
2018-2021, Chairperson, Faculty Assembly Committee (equivalent to Chairperson of a
2023 Faculty Senate), Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri.
2013-2018 Chairperson, Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri.
RESEARCH POSITIONS
2023-Present Senior Researcher. United States Air Force Academy. Colorado Springs, Colorado.
EDUCATION
2010-2012 Postdoctoral Fellow, Reform & Innovation in the Changing Ecology of Higher Education Project,
Graduate School of Education, Stanford University.
2010 Doctor of Philosophy, Sociology, Department of Sociology. University of California, Riverside.
2006 Master of Arts, Sociology, Department of Sociology. University of California, Riverside.
2000 Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, Department of Sociology. University of Washington.
1998 Associate of Arts. Spokane Falls Community College.
INTERNAL GRANTS
2022-23 Avila University. Faculty Sabbatical (1-Year).
2014-2021 Avila University. 6 Conference Travel Grants, $1300-1500.
2014 Avila University. Faculty Scholarship Time Release Grant.
AWARDS
2004 Seattle Police Department Citizen Appreciate Award. Award given for working bridging the Seattle
Asian & Pacific Islander Communities with the police.
PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES
* Equal Authorship
2022 Niemeyer, Richard. E., K. Ryan Proctor, Joseph A. Schwartz. “Are Most Published Criminological Research Findings Wrong? Taking Stock of Criminological Research using a Bayesian Simulation Approach. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.
2020 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard Niemeyer. “Retrofitting Social Learning Theory with Contemporary Understandings of Learning and Memory Derived from Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience.” Journal of Criminal Justice (66): 101655.
2018 McCaffree, Kevin, and K. Ryan Proctor.* “Cocooned from Crime: The Relationship Between Video Games and Crime.” Society 55(1):41-52.
2014 Han, Chong-suk, Kristopher Proctor, and Kyung-Hee Choi. “We Pretend Like Sexuality Doesn’t Exist: Managing Homophobia in Gaysian America.” Journal of Men’s Studies. 22(1): 53-63.
2014 Han, Chong-suk, Kristopher Proctor, and Kyung-Hee Choi. “I Know a Lot of Gay Asian Men Who are Actually Tops.” Sexuality and Culture 18(2):219-234
2012 Brint, Steven, Kristopher Proctor, Scott Patrick Murphy, and Robert A. Hanneman. “The Market Model and the Growth and Decline of Academic Fields in U.S. Four Year Colleges and Universities, 1980-2000.” Sociological Forum. 27(2): 275-299.
2012 Brint, Steven, Kristopher Proctor, Kerry Mulligan, Mathew B. Rotondi, and Robert A. Hanneman. “Declining Academic Fields in U.S. Four-Year Colleges and Universities, 1970-2006.” Journal of Higher Education. 83(4):582-613.
2011 Brint, Steven, Kristopher Proctor, Robert A. Hanneman, Kerry Mulligan, Mathew Baron Rotondi, and Scott Patrick Murphy. “Who are the Early Adopters of New Academic Fields? Comparing Four Theoretical Perspectives on the Institutionalization of Degree Granting Programs in US Four-Year Colleges and Universities.” Higher Education. 61(5): 563-585.
2010 Sanderson, Stephen K., Seth Abrutyn, and Kristopher Proctor. “Testing the Protestant Ethic Thesis with Quantitative Historical Data: A Research Note.” Social Forces. 89(3): 905-911.
2009 Brint, Steven, Kristopher Proctor, Scott Patrick Murphy, Lori Turk-Bicakci, and Robert A. Hanneman. "General Education Models: Continuity and Change in the U.S. Undergraduate Curriculum, 1975-2000." Journal of Higher Education. 80(6): 605-642.
2009 Brint, Steven, Lori Turk-Bicakci, Kristopher Proctor, and Scott Patrick Murphy. "Expanding the Social Frame of Knowledge: The Growth and Distribution of Interdisciplinary Fields in American Colleges and Universities, 1975-2000." Review of Higher Education. 32(2): 155-183.
2007 Proctor, Daniel, Douglas Broadfield, and Kristopher Proctor. “Quantitative Three-Dimensional Shape Analysis of the Proximal Hallucal Metatarsal Articular Surface in Homo, Pan, Gorilla, and Hylobates.” American Journal of Physical Anthropology, V(I): 216-224.
2006 Do, Tri, Ester Hudes, Kristopher Proctor, Chong-suk Han, and Kyung-Hee Choi. “HIV Testing Trends and Correlates Among Young Asian and Pacific Islander Men Who Have Sex with Men in Two U.S. Cities.” AIDS Education and Prevention, 18(1): 44-55.
BOOKS
2019 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. Mechanistic Criminology. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Book Description:
The science of criminology is at a crossroads. Despite accumulating a dizzying array of facts about crime, the field has yet to identify a body of theories that allow for the adequate prediction, explanation, and control of phenomena of central interest to criminologists. Mechanistic Criminology locates this problem within the field’s failure to conform to the expectations of scientific fields and reliance on antiquated methods of theory construction. The book contends that this failure has resulted in an inability of criminologists to engage in theory falsification and competition—two central activities of science—that produce the forms of reliable knowledge unique to scientific fields.
Mechanistic Criminology advocates for the adoption of a mechanistic mode of theorizing to allow criminologists to engage in theory falsification and competition and ignite rapid scientific discovery in the field. The proposed method is the same one employed within the biological sciences, which is responsible for their rapid scientific progress in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Should criminologists adopt this mechanistic approach, criminology could experience the same scientific revolution that is occurring in the biological sciences, and criminologists would generate the knowledge necessary for the prediction, explanation, and control of crime.
Part I: Scientific Criminology—1-10
Chapter 1: What is Science?—11-32
Chapter 2: Assessing the Properties of Scientific Criminology—33-51
Chapter 3: Progress within Scientific Fields—52-68
Chapter 4: Scientific Progress Within Criminology—69-96
Part II: Mechanistic Science—97-102
Chapter 5: Mechanistic Explanations—103-121
Chapter 6: Mechanism Schemas—122-151
Chapter 7: Biosocial Criminology—152-175
Chapter 8: Analytical Criminology—176-198
Part III: Mechanistic Translations of Criminological Theories—199-204
Chapter 9: Social Learning Theory—205-219
Chapter 10: Social Control Theory—220-238
Chapter 11: General Strain Theory—239-252
Part IV: Mechanistic Criminology—253-264
Chapter 12: Nondeclarative Memory—265-299
Chapter 13: Declarative Memory—300-324
Chapter 14: Theory of Mind—325-350
Chapter 15: Conclusion—351-376
BOOK CHAPTERS
2015 Klasik, Daniel, Kristopher Proctor, and Rachel Baker. “A New Research Framework for US Higher Education.” in Remaking College: The Changing Ecology of Higher Education, edited by Michael W. Kirst and Mitchell L. Stevens. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
2011 Brint, Steven, and Kristopher Proctor. “Middle-Class Respectability in Twenty-First Century America: Work and Lifestyle in the Professional-Managerial Stratum.” Pp. 462-490 in Thrift and Thriving in America: Capitalism and Moral Order from the Puritans to the Present, edited by J. J. Yates and J.D. Hunter. New York: Oxford University Press.
CONTRACTED COURSE MODULES
2024 Neuroimaging for the Social Sciences. United States Air Force Academy.
Module 1: New Mechanical Social Science
Module 2: History and Principles of Neuroscience
Module 3: Neurons and Brain Function
Module 4: Software Training—Programming Languages
Module 5: Principles of fMRI Processing and Analysis
Module 6: Software Training—Interaction with Statistical Parametric Mapping
Module 7: fMRI Data Preprocessing and Analysis Tutorial in Statistical Parametric Mapping
Module 8: fMRI Data Preprocessing and Analysis: Practice Problems and Guided Exercises
INVITED TALKS
2022 Proctor, K. Ryan., Richard E. Niemeyer, Joseph A. Schwartz “Defensible Theory Integration in Criminology: A New Mechanical Approach.” New Directions in Criminological Theorising: Enduring Problems and Innovative Approaches to Theory and Theory Testing from the Perspectives of Mechanistic and Analytic Criminology. Centre for Analytic Criminology, Cambridge University Institute of Criminology. (June 8). Cambridge, UK.
Niemeyer, Richard. E., K. Ryan Proctor. Schwartz, J. A., & Niemeyer, R. G. “Are Most Published Criminological Research Findings Wrong? Taking Stock of Criminological Research using a Bayesian Simulation Approach.” New Directions in Criminological Theorising: Enduring Problems and Innovative Approaches to Theory and Theory Testing from the Perspectives of Mechanistic and Analytic Criminology. Centre for Analytic Criminology, Cambridge University Institute of Criminology. (June 8). Cambridge, UK.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS
2023 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. (November 15-18). “Generalizations, Regularities, and Mechanisms: Toward an Integration of Modes of Theorizing in Criminology. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ellsworth, Joshua T., and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 15-18). “Criminality through a Mechanistic Lens: Contextual, Constitutive, and Etiological Accuracy in a Qualitative Study of Drug Use-Precipitated Violence.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Richard E. Niemeyer, and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 15-18). “The Methodological Implications of Constitutive Causality for Theory Testing: Using Extended Reality and Mobile Neuroimaging Technologies to Improve Criminological Theory.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bostrom, Sarah R., and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 15-18). “Formalizing Social Disorganization Theory: A Mechanical Reorganization of the Chicago School.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Proctor, K. Ryan. “Constitutive Criminology and Situational Action Theory.” Paper Presented at the Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology. Florence, Italy.
2022 Niemeyer, Richard E., K. Ryan Proctor, and Joseph Schwartz. (November 16-19). “Why Most Published Criminological Research Findings Are Likely Wrong: Taking Stock of Criminological Research using a Bayesian Simulation Approach.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Atlanta, Georgia.
Proctor, K. Ryan, and Joshua Ellsworth. (November 16-19). “Contextualizing Kornhauser.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Atlanta, Georgia.
2021 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. (November 17-20). “Author Meets Critic: Mechanistic Criminology.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Chicago, Illinois.
2020 No Presentations Due to CoVid-19 Pandemic.
2019 Niemeyer, Richard E., and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 13-16). “An Indirect Critical Test of Social Learning Theory's Concept of the Matching Function.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. San Francisco, California.
Niemeyer, Richard E., Mickela Heilicher, and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 13-16). “On the Applicability of Brain Network Connectivity Research to Criminology.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. San Francisco, California.
2018 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Kevin McCaffree. (November 14-17). “Working from Home Reduces Property Crime.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Atlanta, Georgia.
Niemeyer, Richard E., and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 14-17). “Defensible Theory Integration in Criminology.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Atlanta, Georgia.
2017 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. (November 15-18). “Lumping Errors in Differential Association and Social Learning Theories.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2016 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. (November 16-19). “Scientific Fictions and the Case of Deterrence Theory: A Mechanistic Approach.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Campbell, Christopher M., Richard E. Niemeyer, and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 16-19). “When Focusing Deterrence Fails: Examining Differences of Deterrence Effects Among Offender Types.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. New Orleans, Louisiana
Niemeyer, Richard E., and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 16-19). On the Importance of Systemicity: What General Strain Theory Can Learn for the Field of Neuroendocrinology.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. New Orleans, Louisiana.
2015 Proctor, K. Ryan, and Kevin J. McCaffree. (November 18-21). “Situational Action Theory and Social Information Processing Theory: A Mechanistic Interfield Integration.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Washington, D.C.
Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. (November 18-21). “Level of Analysis Versus Levels of Mechanisms within Mechanistic Explanations.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Washington, D.C.
McCaffree, Kevin J., and K. Ryan Proctor. (November 18-21). “Violent Videogames and the 1990s Crime Decline.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Washington, D.C.
2014 Proctor, K. Ryan. (September 26). “General Strain Theory: A Mechanistic Interpretation.” Paper presented at the Symposium “Minding the Gap: Research at the Intersection of the Life and Social Sciences.” University of Colorado, Denver. Denver, Colorado.
Proctor, K. Ryan, and Richard E. Niemeyer. (November 19-21). “Cumulative Scientific Theory Development within Criminology: A Mechanistic Approach.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. San Francisco, California.
Niemeyer, Richard E., and K. Ryan Proctor (November 19-21). “The Neuroscience of Self-Regulation: A Toolbox for Developing Cumulative Theory. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. San Francisco, California.
2013 Proctor, Kristopher. (November 20-23). “Role-Taking Behavior in Microlevel Theories of Criminal Behavior: A Neurological Perspective.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Atlanta, Georgia.
2012 Proctor, Kristopher. (November 14-17). “Innovation and Differential Association Theory.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Chicago, Illinois.
Niemeyer, Richard Evan, and Kristopher Proctor. (November 14-17). “From Genes to General Strain Theory: How Neuroscience Can Bridge the Explanatory Gap.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Chicago, Illinois.
DATABASES
2011 Steven Brint, Kristopher Proctor, Scott Patrick Murphy, Kerry Mulligan, Matthew B. Rotondi, and Lori Turk-Bicakci. The College Catalog Study Database, 1975-2005. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside.
2010 Steven Brint, Kristopher Proctor, Scott Patrick Murphy, Kerry Mulligan, and Matthew B. Rotondi. The Institutional Data Archive, 1970-2006. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside.
2008 Steven Brint, Lori Turk-Bicakci, Kristopher Proctor, and Scott P. Murphy. The College Catalog Study Database. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside.
COURSES TAUGHT
Introduction to Sociology
Sociology of Deviance
The Paranormal
Criminology
White-Collar Crime
Corrections
Sociology of Law
Political Crime
Environmental Criminology
Social Stratification
Sociology of Education
Classical Sociological Theory
Sociology of Organizations
Human Institutions
Statistical Analysis (Undergraduate)
The Chicago School of Sociology
ACADEMIC SERVICE
2013-2022 Departmental Advisor.
2020-2022 External Reviewer, Institutional Research Board. Community College of Denver.
Denver Colorado.
2022 Faculty Assembly Representative, University Reorganization Committee
2022 Member, Committee on Instructional Excellence.
2018-2021 College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Representative, Faculty Assembly Committee.
2018-2021 Member, Undergraduate Council.
2019-2020 Member, Faculty/Staff Handbook Taskforce.
2019-2020 Member, Strategic Plan Steering Committee.
2020 Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Teaching and Learning Criterion Committee.
2018-2019 Member, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences CORE Curriculum Taskforce.
2012-2017 Member, Institutional Effectiveness Committee.
2016 Chairperson, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) Instructional Environment Task Force.
2016 Member, Avila University Transfer Taskforce.
2015 Member, Faculty Assembly Curricular Committee Procedures Taskforce.
2015 Chairperson, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Breadth Requirement Taskforce.
2013-2014 Member, Avila University Quality Initiative Taskforce.
2013 Member, Faculty Assembly Explorations of Nature Committee.
2013 Member, Faculty Assembly Interdisciplinary Core Requirement Committee.
2012 Member, Faculty Assembly Foundations Committee.
PUBLIC SERVICE
2015-2018 Board of Directors. Save, Inc. Kansas City, Missouri.
2013-2018 Chairperson, Program Committee. Save, Inc. Kansas City, Missouri.
2016 Revenue Taskforce. Save, Inc. Kansas City, Missouri.
2002-2004 West Precinct Advisory Council, Seattle Police Department, Seattle, Washington
2003-2004 City-Wide Advisory Council, Seattle Police Department, Seattle, Washington.
2003-2004 Community Relations Board, King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, Seattle, Washington.
2003-2004 Public Safety Committee, Seattle Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area, Seattle, Washington.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2009-2010 Research Assistant, Southern California Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention, University of California, Riverside.
2007-2010 Research Assistant/Data Manager, Colleges and Universities 2000 Project, Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside.
2000-2002 Site Coordinator, Young Asian Men’s Study, Center for AIDS Preventions Studies, University of California, San Francisco.
2002-2004 Program Coordinator, Community Action Partnership Community Police Program, Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDPDA), Seattle, Washington.
2000 Staff Writer, South Downtown Exchange, Seattle, Washington.
2000 Contributing Writer, International Examiner Asian American Journal, Seattle, Washington.
SKILLS/SOFTWARE
LMS Instructure Canvas, Anthology Blackboard.
Office Software Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook.
Apple Pages, Numbers, Keynote.
Data Analysis STATA 18, SPSS, MaxQDA.
Video Editing Camtasia, Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects.
Audio Editing Adobe Audition, Apple Logic Pro, Audacity, Isotope RX.
Graphic Design Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Pixelmator Pro.
PDF Software Adobe Acrobat, ABBY FineReader.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Society of Criminology, Member.
References
Available on Request.