Now retired, Emily A. Reed concluded her career as a systems and database administrator in the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. Prior to this position, she served as an adjunct professor of criminal justice at the University of Delaware from 1994 to 2001 and also taught at La Salle University, Brandywine College, Ursinus College, St. Joseph’s College and Western New England University over the course of her career. In addition to her educational endeavors, she also spent time as a management analyst with Delaware Criminal Justice Council and the Delaware Division of Corporations as well as an assistant planner for the town of Enfield, Connecticut. She has remained active in her retirement, teaching with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware.
Dr. Reed is also a well-regarded author in her field, having published a number of articles and books on criminal justice between 1981 and 1996. She is particularly proud of her 1993 book “The Penry Penalty,” which argued against the death penalty for those with mental disabilities and whose forward was written by then Senator, now President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr. She previously authored several other texts on the topic between 1989 and 1992, including “Viewpoint: The Death Penalty’s Inequalities” in Delaware Today. Other works of hers include “UD Right to Take Drinking Seriously” in 1996, “Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Swing the Prison’s Revolving Doors” in 1995 and “Criminal Justice Video-Conferencing in Delaware” in 1994, among others.
Before embarking on her career, Dr. Reed earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science, philosophy and French at Marquette University in 1963. Following this, she completed coursework at St. Mary’s College of Maryland before earning a Master of Public Administration from the University of Hartford in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts in 1982 with her dissertation “Exclusionary Zoning and the Urban Ecology.” In order to keep abreast of new developments in her field, she maintained affiliation with the American Political Science Association, the American Society for Public Administration, the Delaware Association for Public Administration and the Justice Research and Statistical Association.
Alongside her work in criminal justice, Dr. Reed is an accomplished multimedia artist, who works in watercolors, oils, pastels and photography. Her work has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions as well as in various publications and calendars, and won numerous awards, medals and ribbons. Since 2011 roughly 444 photographs of hers have been published in the Wilmington News Journal, which also featured her in an article about her photography in 2017. Furthermore, Dr. Reed serves on the board of directors of the Center for the Creative Art and holds membership with the Newark Arts Alliance and the Gilbert W. Perry Center for the Arts.