Core Faculty of the Law-Psychology Program

  • Eve Brank* (J.D., Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Associate Professor of Psychology and Courtesy Professor of Law. Interests: Juvenile and family law issues, parental responsibility laws, elder law, 4th Amendment, plea negotiations, and anti-obesity policies.
  • Sarah Gervais (Ph.D. in Psychology and Women's Studies, The Pennsylvania State University). Associate Professor of Psychology. Interests: sexual harassment, sexual assault, power, objectification, and subtle prejudice.
  • David Hansen  (Ph.D., University of Mississippi).  Professor of Psychology.  Director of the Clinical Psychology Training Program and the Law-Psychology Program.  Interests:  Child maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect), including development of assessments and interventions for victims and families, maltreatment prevention, and understanding the correlates and consequences of maltreatment.
  • Lori Hoetger  (JD., Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln).  Assistant Professor of Law.  Interests:  criminal law and criminal procedure, legal decision-making, Fourth Amendment and privacy, and mental health law.
  • Kathryn Holland  (Ph.D. in Psychology and Women's Studies, University of Michigan).  Assistant Professor of Psychology and Women's & Gender Studies.  Interests:  How people’s health and wellbeing (especially around issues of sexual violence and sexual health) are influenced by their social environments, with particular focus on formal support systems, social norms, and interpersonal processes.
  • Mario Scalora (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Faculty member of both the Clinical and Law-Psychology Programs.  Interests: research addressing various types of targeted violence issues including threat assessment, terrorism/extremist violence, sexual offending & workplace violence.
  • Ashley Votruba* (J.D., Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law; Ph.D., Arizona State University). Assistant Professor of Psychology. Interests: How cognitive biases, heuristics, and culture influences policy and legal decision-making in the areas of tort law, criminal law, and family law.
  • Richard Wiener* (Ph.D., University of Houston; M.L.S., University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Professor of Psychology and Courtesy Professor of Law. Interests: Sociolegal jurisprudence; discrimination law including sexual harassment; jury decision making; judicial decision making; death penalty.
  • Cynthia Willis-Esqueda (Ph.D., University of Kansas). Associate Professor of Psychology. Interests: Legal constructions of race and ethnicity; American indigenous populations and race/ethnic bias in law and legal procedures, Immigration law and policy and psychological experiences of immigrants and refugees.

* College of Law Appointments

Affiliated Psychology Faculty

  • Calvin Garbin (Ph.D., University of Texas-Arlington). Interests: Cognitive psychology; multivariate analysis.
  • Debra Hope (Ph.D., Uniersity at Albany-State University of New York). Interests: Assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders; outcome and processes of psychotherapy; psychology of women.

Affiliated Law Faculty

      • Craig Lawson (J.D., Hastings College of Law). Interests: Tort law; professional responsibility; health law; bioethics.
      • Richard Moberly (J.D., Harvard Law School). Dean of the Law School. Interests: Employment law; disability law; law and technology.
      • Marc Pearce (J.D., Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Associate to the Chancellor for Institutional Equity and Compliance and Courtesy Professor of Psychology. Interests: Legal academic skills; evidence; psychology.
      • Kevin Ruser (J.D., University of Nebraska). Director of the Civil Clinical Law program. Interests: Civil commitment; continuing education; aging.
      • Steven Willborn (J.D., M.A., University of Wisconsin). Interests: Employment and labor law; employment discrimination; use of statistics in discrimination cases.

Emeriti Faculty

    • Robert Belli (Ph.D., University of New Hampshire). Interests: False memories; role of leading misinformation on memory and report.
    • Brian Bornstein* (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; M.L.S., University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Professor of Psychology and Courtesy Professor of Law. Interests: Eyewitness reliability; jury decision making, especially regarding damages, and the effects of expert and eyewitness testimony; distributive justice; medical decision making.
    • Robert Schopp* (J.D., University of Arizona; Ph.D. (psychology), North Carolina State; Ph.D. (philosophy), University of Arizona). Professor of law, psychology, and philosophy, with primary appointment in the College of Law.  Professor Schopp assists with routine administrative issues of the Program as it relates to the College of Law. Interests: Criminal responsibility and defenses; conceptual and normative issues in mental health law and criminal law; therapeutic jurisprudence.
    • Will Spaulding (Ph.D., University of Arizona). Interests: Various aspects of schizophrenia and other severe disorders, including clinical and experimental psychopathology; the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation and service systems and social policy.
    • Alan Tomkins (J.D., Ph.D., Washington University). Professor of psychology with primary appointment in the Department of Psychology. Currently on leave at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Interests: Judicial administration; predictions of violence risk; court decisionmaking about treatment for children and youth; prejudice and discrimination; the use of social science evidence in the legal system.
    • Brian Wilcox (Ph.D., University of Texas). Interests: Adolescent risk taking; policy analysis; HIV/AIDS prevention; social effects of media on children; child welfare systems.