www.burkfoster.com

Burk Foster
Address:
Criminal Justice Department
Saginaw Valley State University
7400 Bay Road
University Center, MI 48710
Telephone:
(989) 964-4156
Email:
burk@burkfoster.com

Burk Foster is Visiting Professor of Criminal Justice at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. From 1974 to 2005, he was Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. A former civilian police officer and lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Security Police, he completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Oklahoma. After moving to Louisiana, Professor Foster's academic interests turned toward sentencing policies and corrections. He has testified as an expert witness in state and federal courts on issues related to imprisonment and capital punishment. Although he is not a convict and has never aspired to be one, he was a writer and contributing editor of The Angolite, the magazine of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, for sixteen years.

Professor Foster is a longtime member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Correctional Association. He was also active in UL-Lafayette’s Honors Program, teaching and directing undergraduate seminars. His writing focuses on prison history, jail and prison policies, and the death penalty.