Heith Copes

Heith Copes is a Distinguished Professor in the J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), with a secondary appointment in Sociology. He joined UAB in 2001 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. His research focuses on criminal decision-making, narrative sense-making, and qualitative methodologies.

Education: Ph.D. in Sociology (2001), University of Tennessee. Dissertation: Finding a Ride: Decision-Making among Auto Thieves (advisor: Neal Shover).

Research interests include understanding offender decision processes, drug-related crimes, and qualitative research design. He has received numerous awards for scholarship and teaching, including the 2022 Donal MacNamara Award for his work on meth cooking as a job. His work frequently appears in top journals like Justice Quarterly.

Awards highlight his contributions to criminological theory, qualitative methods, and mentorship. He has advised students on a range of topics, though specific advisees are not listed here.

Teaching excellence is a hallmark of his career, reflected in awards from ACJS, SCJA, and UAB’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.