David Pitts is vice president for the Justice and Safety Division at the Urban Institute, where he leads researchers, technical assistance providers, and support professionals focused on all aspects of the criminal legal system. In addition to his division leadership responsibilities and work as part of Urban’s cross-division leadership team, Pitts directs projects that focus on evidence-driven reform in corrections. He is committed to using data to make policy and program decisions and collaborates with corrections leaders on data-driven organizational change.
Pitts is a member of the US Sentencing Commission's Research and Data Practices Advisory Group, the advisory council of the Correctional Association of New York, and the editorial board of Criminology. He is an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and he spent a decade in academia before his work in applied criminal legal research.
Pitts earned a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College; master’s degrees from Indiana University and the University of California, Irvine; and a PhD from the University of Georgia.
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