Michael Hindelang

Hindelang was born in Detroit.[1] He received his B.A. in psychology in 1966 and his master's degree in 1967, both from Wayne State University.[2] He received his doctorate in criminology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969.[1]

In 1970, Hindelang joined the faculty of the University at Albany, where he became a full professor in 1976. He remained on the faculty there until his death.[2] In 1972, he founded the Criminal Justice Research Center at this university.[3] While at the University at Albany he collaborated with, among other researchers, Travis Hirschi, on multiple research projects pertaining to delinquency.

Their collaboration produced a paper regarding the link between IQ and delinquency, as well as the 1981 book Measuring Delinquency, which was co-authored by Hindelang, Hirschi, and Joseph Weis.[2] Hindelang and Hirschi, along with Michael R. Gottfredson, also collaborated on a paper criticizing research on the age-crime curve, a paper which later became one of Hirschi's most famous. However, as Hindelang's health declined, he became unable to contribute more to this paper toward the end of his life.[4] He served as associate editor for the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency from 1977 to 1980.[5]

Hindelang died on March 27, 1982, of a brain tumor. He was 36 years old when he died.[1][4]

After Hindelang died in 1982, the Criminal Justice Research Center he founded at the University at Albany was renamed the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center.[3] In 1991, the American Society of Criminology created the Michael J. Hindelang Award, which is given annually to a book that the Society thinks "makes the most outstanding contribution to research in criminology" of any book published in the three previous years.[6][7]