James B Wells

JAMES B. WELLS is a Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He received the 2025 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences John Howard Award, which honors individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of corrections. Dr. Wells has a diverse background as a former carpenter, soldier, and correctional officer in a super-maximum-security prison, as well as a researcher and planner assisting architects in prison design. He holds multiple degrees, including an M.S. in Criminal Justice, a Ph.D. in Research, and an MFA in Creative Writing. Dr. Wells has authored or co-authored more than sixty-five books, chapters, articles, and essays, and has produced over 150 research reports for local, state, and federal agencies. His recent essays appear in Collateral Journal, About Place Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Military Experience and the Arts, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, Shift, Proud to be: Writing by American Warriors, Trajectory Journal, and From Pen to Page III: More Writings from the Bluegrass Writers Coalition. Upon retirement, he published an award-winning investigative memoir about his father's CIA-classified death in Vietnam in 1965, titled "Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew." In April 2026, Dr. Wells initiated legal action against the CIA to reveal the agency's knowledge—or lack thereof—regarding his father's death.