Dr. Randy Garner is a Professor of Behavioral Sciences and former Associate Dean in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. He holds a B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Houston, with specialization in the area of Social Psychology, and a doctoral minor in Organizational Behavior and Management. Additionally, Dr. Garner has a (second) Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies.
Prior to moving into academia, Dr. Garner began his more than 30 years of law enforcement service in 1976 and has worked in all divisions and levels of command. He was appointed as the Chief of Police for a Houston-area agency in the mid 1980's where he was active in a variety of national, state, and local law enforcement organizations. Dr. Garner has taught with or is a graduate of all of the major police command colleges in the country, including the F.B.I. National Academy, the Graduate Management Institute, the Leadership and Command College (LEMIT), the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, and the Southern Police Institute (University of Louisville). During his police career, Dr. Garner was licensed as a Texas Polygraph Examiner, a Forensic Hypnotist, a Police Firearms Master, a Police Defensive Tactics Instructor, and was an FBI-trained Hostage Negotiator.
Dr. Garner has been with Sam Houston State University for 20 years and was the founding Director of the Texas Regional Community Policing Institute (TRCPI) and served as the Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) before his appointment as Associate Dean. Currently he serves as the Director of the Professional Justice Studies Program.
Dr. Garner has received numerous academic awards and honors including the Excellence in Educational Instruction award in 2006, the University of Houston's 2005-2006 Distinguished Alumni Award - the highest honor the association and the University can bestow upon an alumnus and the Social Psychologist in Texas award in 2004.
Dr. Garner has authored numerous books and professional publications with particular emphasis in the areas of social influence, persuasion, and leadership. His books, Criticism Management and Constructing Effective Criticism: How to Give, Receive, and Seek Productive and Constructive Criticism in Our Liveshave been adopted by command colleges, leadership courses, and communication programs across the country. Additionally, Dr. Garner is the Editor-in-Chief of Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, academic journal that examines the social and psychological aspects of human behavior as related to applied societal and criminal justice settings.