Meet Outstanding Master’s Mentor Dr. David Khey
Dr. David Khey is an associate professor and department head for the Department of Criminal Justice. He is also the associate director for the . Dr. Khey's work focuses on drug policy, effective policing strategies, campus crime and safety, drug testing technology, medicolegal research and jury decision making.
The Graduate School has selected Khey as a recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Master’s Mentor Award.
“Dr. Khey is extremely active in the world of sponsored research in his field, and he regards the graduate students as much as collaborators as students,” says Dr. Jordan Kellman, professor and dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “He is someone who has tremendous positive energy for students, and really cares about them as students, researchers, young professionals, and people.”
Kellman describes Khey as a “tireless advocate for master’s students.” Khey’s efforts include securing a lounge area to facilitate community building among grad students, and creating a peer mentoring program that pairs second-year and first-year master’s students together.
Khey also frequently goes out of his way to connect directly with students and offer support.
“Dr. Khey checks in on how we are doing, and will specify that he is asking about us, not about how our work is coming along,” explains Victoria Mello, a master’s candidate in criminal justice.
“Every time that I started to doubt myself, we would call a meeting, and by the end of those meetings I always felt better about the work I was doing and had a better idea of what I should work on to progress through the research,” she adds.
Mello has since been accepted to present her thesis research at a large criminal justice conference; Khey assisted in securing funding for her and others in the department to attend.
“If someone is in need and has a passion, I challenge them to work with me to figure out a path forward,” Khey says.
“There may be a misstep or two along the way — but, more likely than not, we find ways to thrive together. In the end, we teach resiliency to make the next generation better than my own.”
