Timothy Bray

Timothy Bray is a Professor of Practice of Public Policy and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), affiliated with the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. He also serves as Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research. Dr. Bray holds a Ph.D. in Criminology (2003) and multiple advanced degrees from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. His research focuses on quality of life disparities, social disorganization theory, and community development evaluation. He leads the development of the Wholeness Index, a comprehensive measure of urban quality of life disparities, and has pioneered methods for analyzing spatial dependencies in crime data.

Professional roles include:

• Clinical Assistant Professor at UTD (2006–Present)
• Director, J. McDonald Williams Institute (2005–2008)
• Prior roles in law enforcement and policy analysis with Illinois State Police and St. Louis County Police.

Research Interests span:

• Multidimensional quality of life indicators
• Hierarchical modeling of neighborhood dislocation
• Evaluation of community development programs
• Racial disparities in criminal justice systems

Awards include the Achievement Medal from Illinois State Police (2002) for innovative policing strategies. He advises local organizations on equity and sustainability and serves on boards such as the North Texas Housing Coalition and the Urban Institute's National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership.

Grants & Projects include evaluations of the Dallas Domestic Violence Task Force, the "United 2020" initiative, and the Beyond ABC children's health reports. Ongoing work explores child safety zones, census data applications, and fluid policing boundaries.