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The Award for Distinguished Research or Creative Activity (ADROCA) honors outstanding accomplishments in research or creative work by full-time Graduate Faculty members at the University of Nebraska at 51ÉçÇø. This award recognizes originality and distinction that garners attention on a national or international scale. ADROCA recipients contribute to advancing the quality of research and creative activity at UNO, while upholding the values of discovery, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and the arts.

Tara Richards, Ph.D.

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
College of Public Affairs and Community Service

UNO is proud to recognize Tara Richards, Ph.D., distinguished professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and David Scott Diamond Alumni Professor of Public Affairs and Community Service, as the recipient of the 2025 Award for Distinguished Research or Creative Activity (ADROCA). This award is presented annually to a faculty member whose research demonstrates originality, national impact, and scholarly distinction.

Richards is recognized as a national leader in victimology, with particular expertise in prevention, intervention, and system responses to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and child abuse and neglect. Her prolific and significant body of work includes 88 peer-reviewed journal articles, cited more than 3,400 times, placing her in the top 2% of criminology researchers according to the 2023 Stanford University/Elsevier Annual Report.

Over the course of her career, Richards has secured more than $5 million in external funding, including 15 grants as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator from esteemed agencies such as the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her scholarship, which regularly appears in top journals and national forums, has also included nearly 100 presentations and webinars that reach national audiences.

Equally committed to the development of future scholars and practitioners, Richards co-founded the Victimology and Victim Studies Research Lab (VVSRL) at UNO in 2020. The lab offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students opportunities to engage in applied research and gain meaningful mentorship and professional development experiences.

Richards’ impact also extends far beyond the academic realm. She plays a key role in training Nebraska’s criminal justice and victim service practitioners and supporting research capacity for state agencies and non-profits across the state. Richards coordinates Nebraska’s Victim Assistance Academy (NEVAA) the state’s 40-hour training certification for victim service providers and allied professionals. She also serves on Nebraska’s Domestic Violence Intervention Program State Standards Committee and assists with annual training for domestic violence intervention treatment providers. In addition, she was recently appointed by the Attorney General to serve a three-year term on Nebraska’s Domestic Abuse Death Review Team.

Nomination Information

Download the Distinguished Research or Creative Activity Award nomination criteria and forms

Important Dates

• March 1: Nomination Deadline
• April 1: Nominee documentation due

Past Award Recipients

View the full list of award recipients