Florida Atlantic University’s MacArthur campus is growing with an increasing number of faculty members to keep up with the growing number of students.

The Criminology and Criminal Justice program, offered at MacArthur, currently has seven professors teaching classes this semester at the Mac-Arthur campus. Although some of the information on these professors is offered in the faculty biographies within the College of Architecture Urban and Public Affair’s website, some of the newest faces have yet to be included.

Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., is now a professor for the department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Dr. Hinduja received his undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and then traveled to Michigan to complete his Master’s and Doctoral degrees. With experience in teaching undergraduate courses, Dr. Hinduja is currently teaching CCJ 3024, Criminal Justice System and CCJ 3014, Criminology .

Hinduja says he chose to come to FAU for “The quiet, laid back, close-knit atmosphere of the campus and the fact that southeast Florida is one of the most beautiful places in the United States to live.” FAU in Jupiter also has a “solid” criminology and criminal justice departments which will allow Dr. Hinduja to concentrate on his research.

Dr. Hinduja’s research interests include computer-related crime, criminology theory, information security and survey methodology. He has been published in various criminal justice, information technology and security-related journals as well. His professional goals are “to assist law enforcement and the private sector in their efforts to combat cyber crime and security related issues through sound theoretical and methodological research and evaluation.”

But don’t get the wrong idea, Dr. Hinduja has a sense of humor which is evident in the classroom discussions that often get a bit off-topic. Students enrolled in his classes admire his patience when these discussions get off track.

“I think it is cool how he allows everyone to say what they think, even when it really has nothing to do with what we started talked about. It makes you feel important,” one student in his criminal justice class says. “I love how he tries to keep a straight face and then loses it when something funny is being said. It’s like he doesn’t want to laugh at you personally, but sometimes it is just too much,” another anonymous student says.

When Dr. Hinduja is not combating cyber crime, he is training for another goal, this one personal: in 2005, he will attempt to climb Pike’s Peak in Colorado and Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

The advice Hinduja offers for college students is, “put in the effort to get the most out of your education; learn how to communicate extremely wel,l both orally and in the written word; find a subject about which you can be passionate and strive to excel in it; learn time management.”