Dr. Jeff Gruenewald
TRC Director & Professor

Dr. Gruenewald has served as the Director of the Terrorism Research Center (TRC) since 2019 and is a Professor in the Department of Sociology & Criminology. He received his PhD in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University in 2009, and has been funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. His research focuses on topics related to terrorism, homeland security, extremism, bias crime, and other criminal justice areas.

Laurie Mitchell
TRC Program Manager

Laurie Mitchell serves as the TRC Program Manager. She received her MS in Applied Sociology from the University of Texas-Dallas. With a background and program management and evaluation, Mitchell oversees the day-to-day operations of the TRC’s internship program and several federally-funded projects concentrating on radicalization, domestic extremism, and terrorism.

Dr. Steven Windisch
CASDAL Associate Director & Assistant Professor

Dr. Windisch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and Associate Director of the Crime and Security Data Analytics Lab (CASDAL). He earned his Ph.D. in Criminology & Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His interests are primarily at the individual-level and focus on how the negative consequences of physical/psychological trauma, identity formation, and interpersonal violence intersect with political extremism. 

Fall 2024 Undergraduate TRC Interns: Cherysh Lowe, Benjamin Boyle, Eli Seay, Abigail Lutrick, Jennifer Castaneda Hernandez, Mia Hadziselimovic, Emma Schmich, Katie Harden, Ashleigh Ritchie, Madison Lundquist, Josie Grote, Nora Cowen, Trevor Moon, Jace Jasper, Carly Johnson, Brooke Jackson, Natalie Speer, Hannah Baumbach, Brittan Hutchison, Jayden Chiman, Sofia Westrom, Erin Duke, Jazmin Caceres, Jessie Sanders, Sydney Conway, Madison Page.