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.