Janet Reno Fellowship Fund  for Criminology Master’s Students

A new fellowship fund supporting Penn criminology master’s students and named in honor of former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno was formally created at a University symposium on March 31.

The establishment of the Janet Reno Fellowship Fund was announced at Friday’s event at which Ms. Reno—the 78th Attorney General  of the U.S. and the first woman U.S. Attorney General—spoke, according to Dr. Lawrence W. Sherman, chair of the department of criminology.

Laurie Robinson, director of the Master of Science in Criminology program and a former assistant attorney general under Ms. Reno, and her husband, Sheldon Krantz, a Washington, D.C. lawyer with the firm of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, have contributed a leadership gift to create the fund.  Ms. Robinson will also be working to raise additional support for the fund.

 “We launched our one-year Master of Science in Criminology program in 2004 for individuals who are interested in careers in criminal justice policy and practice and who are passionate about making change happen in how the justice system does business,” Dr. Sherman said.  “This generous gift from Laurie and Sheldon will help provide vital support to our most outstanding students.”

“Naming this fund after the pre-eminent criminal justice change agent was only natural,” Ms. Robinson said.  “We are honored to have Janet Reno here with us at its launching.”

Ms. Reno’s lecture, The Reno Years: National Leadership and the Great American Crime Drop, and the announcement of the fund took place as part of the Criminology Department’s second annual Penn Criminology Day.