Dr. Kideste Mariam Yusef is a tenured Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and the Department Chair of the undergraduate Criminal Justice and Master’s in Criminal Justice Administration programs at Bethune-Cookman University. She also serves as the Director of the B-CU Center for Law and Social Justice. Dr. Yusef has twenty years of collegiate teaching experience including undergraduate and graduate instruction in Criminal Justice, Sociology, and African American/African Studies. Her areas of expertise include community-police relations, police use of force, race and social justice, and performance management. Dr. Yusef currently serves as the National Coordinator of Student-Law Enforcement Engagement for the 400 Years of African American History Commission “I Fear for My Life” Federal Initiative, which establishes a national dialogue between African American college students and police based on the common theme of fear. She received a B.S. in Criminal Justice with a minor in African American Studies and M.A. in Applied Sociology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, M.A. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Ph.D. in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Law, Policy, and Practice from The Graduate Center/John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University New York. She is the proud mother of three amazing children, Senait Wudasse, Melesse Selam, and Kebra Egziabher.