Dr. Laura Dugan is Director of Graduate Studies and an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management in 1999 from the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. She also has a Masters of Science in Statistics and one in Public Management and Policy also from Carnegie Mellon. She is a member of the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism.
 
In her work, Laura examines the causes and consequences of violence. She is especially interested in estimating the effects of interventions or policies designed to reduce violence, both criminal and terrorist violence. She also designs methodological strategies to overcome data limitations inherent in the social sciences. Her publications appear in journals such as the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Criminology, the American Sociological Review, Law and Society Review, as well as Terrorism and Political Violence, and the Journal of Peace Research.