Ruth E. Masters is currently the Chair of the Department of Criminology at California State University, Fresno where she has been teaching since 1972. She received her Ed.D. from the University of Southern California in 1978. A former parole agent, she was the sole author and lead author of two criminology textbooks. She was selected in 1999 for the Author of the Year Award by the National Association of Forensic Counselors for her book Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders. Her special interests include corrections, addiction, criminological theory, and cross-cultural administration of justice. She has conducted criminal justice programs in Amsterdam, France, Italy, Scotland, Greece, Belgium, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, Hong Kong, The Czech Republic, Peru, China, Turkey, Ireland, New Zealand, and Thailand.