PITTSBURGH — University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel has selected Dr. Tony Gaskew, professor of criminal justice at the university’s Bradford campus, as a 2025 recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award.
Gaskew, who is also associate dean of academic affairs at Pitt-Bradford, has taught criminal justice at the Bradford campus since 2006.
The distinguished public service awards emphasize the use of faculty expertise to address social problems through public service.
Gabel recognized Gaskew for his work with incarcerated people at the Federal Correctional Institution McKean and State Correctional Institution Forest. That work includes founding Pitt-Bradford’s Prison Education Program and successfully reaching more than a thousand students since the program’s inception; teaching postsecondary courses inside the federal and state prisons; and, in 2019, creating a first-of-its kind Life Support program, a prison education program for people incarcerated for life while still juveniles.
“Throughout his distinguished academic career, Tony has established programs that not only benefit our students but also improve the lives of incarcerated individuals in our region,” said Pitt-Bradford President Richard Esch. “His work has made an important impression on his field, his colleagues and the hundreds of Pitt-Bradford alumni whom he’s prepared for careers in criminal justice.”
In November, Gaskew received the Larry E. Davis Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship from Pitt for his extraordinary contributions to the understanding of Black male studies and criminal justice through his pioneering research, including the creation of the FBI Counterintelligence Program Pittsburgh Collection and his leadership of the Prison Education Program at Pitt-Bradford. The collection is a special digital archive of the FBI’s counterintelligence operations targeting the 1960s Black Power movement in Pittsburgh.
He has been the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Federal Correctional Institution McKean for his decade-long collaborative efforts with incarcerated educators and students.
In 2016, Gaskew was invited to The White House, and served on the President’s Committee on Prison Education.
He has authored more than 50 publications, including three books, book chapters and journal articles and is editor of the book series Contemporary Issues in Race, Crime and Justice.
Gaskew will receive the award April 3 during Faculty Honors Convocation at the University of Pittsburgh. Gaskew is the first member of the Pitt-Bradford faculty to receive the Distinguished Public Service award and the fourth recognition from the Chancellor’s office.
Three other Pitt-Bradford faculty members have received Chancellor’s Awards for Teaching: Dr. Tammy Haley, former associate professor of nursing; Dr. Lauren Yaich, associate professor of Biology; and Dr. Rick Frederick, professor emeritus of history.
