James R. Coldren, Jr, Ph.D.

James R. "Chip" Coldren, Jr., serves as codirector of the Center for Justice Research and Innovation at CNA. He is an experienced justice system evaluator with over 40 years of research and evaluation experience in law enforcement, juvenile justice, and corrections. He is the project director or advisor for several national technical assistance and training programs and directs research projects for the center.

Prior to his work at CNA, Coldren’s academic career at Governors State University in Illinois included positions as acting assistant provost, as director of Sponsored Programs and Research, and as program coordinator for the Interdisciplinary Leadership Doctorate and Criminal Justice graduate programs. He served for over four years as president of the Illinois John Howard Association for Prison Reform. In addition, Coldren served at the University of Illinois at Chicago as director of the Center for Research in Law and Justice, as deputy director with the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods for the Harvard University School of Public Health, as director of research for the Justice Research and Statistics Association, and as the director of research at Patuxent Institution, a maximum security prison in Maryland.

Coldren earned a PhD and a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Chicago, with a research focus on criminal justice data and corrections. His Bachelor of Arts in sociology is from Rutgers University.