Prof Alison Wakefield PhD CSyP FSyI

I am Professor of Criminology and Security Studies and Co-Director of the Cybersecurity and Criminology Centre at the University of West London. I was Chair of the Security Institute from 2018 to 2020, and I am currently also a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, Academic Adviser to the Chartered Security Professionals Registration Authority, a member of the National Preparedness Commission, and a member of the Advisory Councils of the International Security Expo and the International Cyber Expo. My recent honours and awards include being a finalist as a 'best educator' in the Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards 2022; featuring in SC Media UK’s Women of Influence in Cyber Security 2019, 2021 and 2022 and IT Security Guru’s 25 Most Inspiring Women in Cyber 2020; ranking third in the thought leadership category of IFSEC Global’s Top Influencers in Security and Fire for 2020; winning an Emerald Outstanding Paper 2018 award for the co-authored paper ‘Confronting the “fraud bottleneck”’ in the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice; and receiving the Association of Security Consultants Imbert Prize 2017 for my contribution to the security profession. I previously taught at the University of Leicester, City University London, the University of New South Wales, Sydney and, most recently, the University of Portsmouth. Following a Ph.D at the University of Cambridge and before moving into academia, I worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers as an IT consultant. My latest book 'Security and Crime: Converging Perspectives on a Complex World' was published by Sage in July 2021. My other publications include the books 'Selling Security: The Private Policing of Public Space' (Willan Publishing, 2003), which was shortlisted for the British Society of Criminology Book Prize 2003; 'The Sage Dictionary of Policing', edited with Jenny Fleming (Sage, 2009) and 'Ethical and Social Perspectives on Situational Crime Prevention', edited with Andrew von Hirsch and David Garland (Hart Publishing, 2000). I serve on the editorial boards of Security Journal, the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, and the Internet Journal of Restorative Justice, as well as the international advisory board of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology. (Background image courtesy of Timorous Beasties: https://www.timorousbeasties.com/collection/toile)