Secretary Dr. Jeffrey Beard
Jeffrey A. Beard, Ph.D. was appointed as Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., on December 27, 2012. He will also serve as Chairman of both the Board of State and Community Corrections and the Prison Industry Board.
Prior to his appointment as Secretary, Dr. Beard began his criminal justice career in 1972 with the Department of Corrections in Pennsylvania (DCP) as a corrections counselor. He served in various positions within the DCP until he was appointed to Secretary by Governor Tom Ridge in January 2001. He was reappointed by Governor Ed Rendell in February 2003. He remained with the DCP until August 2010 when he retired as Secretary.
During his retirement Dr. Beard served as a consultant and/or instructor to the National Institute of Corrections, corrections agencies and various companies on correctional matters, security, performance measures, mental health issues, evidence-based programs and assessment. Since early 2011, Dr. Beard has been a Professor of Practice with the Justice Center for Research at Pennsylvania State University. In this capacity, he serves as an advisor and consultant. He was recently selected to be a member of a National Academy of Science committee studying the high rates of incarceration in the United States.
Dr. Beard holds a B.S. in psychology and an M.Ed and Ph.D. in counseling, all from the Pennsylvania State University. Additionally, he is a licensed psychologist.
He is a member of the Pennsylvania Prison Wardens Association (PPWA), American Correctional Association (ACA), North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents (NAAWS), Northeast Association of Correctional Administrators (NACA) and the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA).
During his tenure as Secretary in Pennsylvania he served on the National Institute of Justice’s Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Committee (LECTAC), the last three years of which he served as vice chair for Corrections.
