Administration

Cheryl P. May, PhD.
Director

 

Dr. Cheryl P. May is the Director of the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), University of Arkansas System, and has complete administrative authority for the entire operations of CJI. She has served the Arkansas law enforcement community for the past 15 years as CJI Deputy Director, CJI Assistant Director, and CJI Program Manager.

 

Prior to her appointment as Director, Dr. May was responsible for the development, coordination, and delivery of forensic science, management, computer application, traffic safety, school safety, and drug investigation courses that the Criminal Justice Institute provides free of charge to Arkansas law enforcement. She is responsible for all methamphetamine-related grants awarded to the Institute. Since 2002, she has assisted in procuring three Community Oriented Policing Services grants as well as Byrne and Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment grants for CJI methamphetamine-related projects.

 

Since its formation in 2005, Dr. May has served as President of the Arkansas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, a coalition of professionals whose mission is to assist local communities to effectively and efficiently identify and protect children endangered by methamphetamine and other drugs. Due to her leadership in meth-related and drug endangered children efforts, she was chosen Chair of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Education and Training Advisory Group.

 

Dr. May played a lead role in the development of three unique academic programs that allow active members of Arkansas law enforcement to earn certificates and associate degrees in crime scene investigation and law enforcement administration. She coordinated efforts to establish partnerships with 20 Arkansas institutions of higher education and actively promotes these programs to law enforcement agencies throughout the State.

 

Dr. May served as a Subject Matter Expert for the Crime Scene Issues Subcommittee of the US Department of Justice National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, helping to produce DNA evidence educational CD ROMS, a DNA pamphlet, and a cold case investigations manuscript distributed to law enforcement officers across the U.S. She has provided lectures on forensic science and DNA issues to chiefs, sheriffs, and investigators in Arkansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Nebraska, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Utah.

 

Dr. May earned a Ph.D. in Biological/Forensic Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1984 under the direction of Drs. Williams M. Bass and Richard Jantz. She also earned a M.A. in Biological Anthropology from Western Michigan University in 1982 and a B.A. in Anthropology from West Virginia University in 1978.

 

Dr. May’s experience in forensics began in 1978 as a graduate teaching assistant at Western Michigan University. Since her arrival in Arkansas, she has assisted Arkansas law enforcement in the investigation of more than 200 cases, either through laboratory analysis and evaluation of skeletal remains or in the identification and field recovery of suspected human remains.

 

 

 

7723 Col. Glenn Road
Little Rock, Arkansas 72204
501-570-8000
1-800-635-6310
Fax: 501-565-3081