Nina Rose Fischer

Dr. Nina Rose Fischer is a tenured Associate Professor at City University of New York (CUNY) John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Graduate Center's Social Welfare PhD program. With over 30 years of experience in harm reduction and youth justice, she combines activism, scholarship, and creative expression to address institutionalized oppression through social justice-oriented pedagogy and research.

Her research focuses on youth-police relations, substance use harm reduction with teens, and arrest diversion programs for youth with gun charges. Her 2020 book, The Case for Youth Police Initiative: Interdependent Fates and the Power of Peace, and its associated documentary series explore ethnographic insights into transforming police-youth interactions via social welfare frameworks. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, popular media, and technical reports.

Key scientific awards include the 2022 Distinguished Teaching Award, 2021 Audre Lorde Award for social justice contributions, and 2019 Andrew Weil Award for Drug Education Research. She has taught courses ranging from Gender and Justice to Critical Community Policing, pioneering asynchronous virtual curricula like White Supremacy: Constructions of Race and Institutionalized Racism.

• 2022: Distinguished Teaching Award
• 2021: Audre Lorde Award for Social Justice
• 2019: Andrew Weil Award for Drug Education Research