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. Christopher Shields
HTS Project Director & Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Shields oversees the Human Trafficking Study (HTS) project in the TRC and also serves as the internship coordinator and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, where he teaches several courses. His research has focused on prosecutorial and defense strategies in terrorism cases and legal aspects of human trafficking in the United States.

Spring 2024 Undergraduate TRC Interns: Abagail Worthington, Addison Miller, Alexi Kendrick, Alexis Puckett, Ashlyn Boyd, Brandon Gibbins, Bree Westfall, Carter McKissack, Chris Gladdens, Colton Leonard, Diego Alvarez, Ella Brown, Emily Erb, Emily Proctor, Gavin Michau, Grant Shyer, Hector Negron, Isabella Holmes, Jackson Wollscheid, Jayden Nichols, Jillian Taylor, Kathleen Sucher, Maddison Aldape, Matthew Edwards, McKenzie Taylor, Sam Camfield, Sophie Carl, and Sydney Hagaman.