Dr. John Cencich has spent over 20 years as a professor and criminologist at California
University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Western University where he specializes
in the teaching of law, constitutional policing, organized crime, advanced criminal
investigations, and international criminal justice, including terrorism.
Prior to that, he retired after a 20-year career in law enforcement and criminal investigation
(including a special attachment to Scotland Yard), which was followed by a 4-year
appointment with the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia. Headquartered at The Hague, he was the senior American war crimes investigator
for the Office of the Prosecutor and led one of the largest international criminal
investigations since the Second World War, resulting in the indictment of the first
sitting head-of state in history.
At PennWest, he is the director of the Pennsylvania Center for Investigative and Forensic
Sciences where he focuses research, teaching, and consultations in the areas of threat
assessments, cold-case homicide strategies, and wrongful convictions. He is the former
Criminal Justice Department Chair and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research.
He is the architect of the first Doctor of Criminal Justice degree in the country,
played a key role in the creation of the Applied Criminology/Behavioral Crime Analysis
Master’s degree, and implemented the first online Forensic Linguistics graduate degree
in the United States. He also served as the first advisor and coach for the University’s
Mock Trial Team, which earned scores of awards across the country while competing
against top-tier schools including Harvard College.
Dr. Cencich is the recipient of the Faculty Merit Award for Teaching, the President’s
Distinguished Award for Service, the Foundation’s Job Johnson Award, and the Alumni
Association’s W. S. Jackman Award of Distinction. Deployed as a Special Agent for
the U.S. Air Force during the Global War on Terror, Dr. Cencich also received the
University President’s Medal for Patriotic Service to the country. He is the author
of The Devil’s Garden: A War Crimes Investigator’s Story. Professor Cencich holds the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science from the University
of Notre Dame.
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Since coming to PennWest, Dr Cencich has provided service as:
- Legal Observer at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on the Military Commission
proceedings against the alleged mastermind of 9/11.
- Consultant to the National Institute of Justice.
- Member of a legislative advisory committee studying wrongful convictions in Pennsylvania.
- Investigative consultant to the United Nations Development Programme.
- Consultant for the United Nations Independent Investigations Commission relative to
the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon.
- Chair of the International Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
- Vice Chair of the Law and Public Policy Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice
Sciences.
