Anthony Peguero recently received not one but two prestigious awards for his years of dedication to the field of sociology.

The American Sociological Association Sections on Sociology of Law and Crime, Law, and Deviance awarded Peguero with the Peterson-Krivo Mentoring Award. Meanwhile, the Society for the Study of Social Problems bestowed its Joseph B. Gittler Award.

“It is humbling to be recognized by my colleagues and peers for the research and mentoring that I pursue,” said Peguero, a professor of criminology and sociology in the Department of Sociology. “It is important to me to represent the research that seeks to understand, highlight, and address the inequities, vulnerabilities, and marginalization that racial and ethnic minority youth face and endure within their schools and communities. To that end, it’s also important to support underrepresented junior scholars whose research addresses inequality and pursues justice and equity, especially for youth.”

The Peterson-Krivo Mentoring Award is bestowed every two years and recognizes sustained work and/or innovative approaches in facilitating the success of students and scholars. Examples include developing a mentoring website, publishing articles or books on mentoring, and creating programs geared toward mentoring.

The Joseph B. Gittler Award represents scholarship promoting ethical solutions to social problems over the previous three or more years. Examples of solutions include scholarship that promotes awareness that social problems and injustices are ethical issues.

Peguero’s professional roles also include director of the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice and research affiliate of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, both based in the Department of Sociology. 

His research interests focus on youth violence, socialization and marginalization, schools, and the adaptation of children immigrants.

Of all his accomplishments, Peguero said he’s most proud of his work mentoring and facilitating the success of underrepresented junior scholars, including undergraduate and graduate students.

“I mentor underrepresented scholars in two broad ways. First, as director of the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice, I try my best to fund as well as collaborate with undergraduate and graduate students on research projects,” said Peguero. “Second, by being a member of the Racial Democracy, Crime, and Justice Network and co-founder of the Latina/o/x Criminology group, I am incredibly committed to advancing research by underrepresented junior scholars on the intersections of race, crime, and justice and to promoting racial democracy within the study of these issues.”

In recent years, Peguero has earned the Becky Tatum Excellence Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Minority and Women’s Section, the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarship Award, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Juvenile Justice Section’s Tory J. Caeti Outstanding Young Scholar Award.

Written by Andrew Adkins