Randy Blazak

Randy Blazak earned his PhD at Emory University in 1995 after completing an extensive field study of racist skinheads that included undercover observations and interviews across the world. He became a tenured sociology professor at Portland State University and a globally recognized expert on hate crimes and hate groups, appearing as a media commentator on local, national, and international television programs, documentaries and radio shows, including NPR, BBC, and the History Channel. His work has taken him from classrooms to criminal trials. His research has been published in academic journals, books and in the mainstream press. In 2001, his co-authored book, Teenage Renegades, Suburban Outlaws was published by Wadsworth and in 2009, Praeger published his volume, Hate Offenders. Since 2002, he has been the chair of the Oregon Coalition Against Hate Crimes. He works with the National Institute of Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center on hate crime research issues. His blog, Watching the Wheels, has reported on the element of extremism in the 2016 presidential campaign. His first novel, The Mission of the Sacred Heart, has been optioned by a screenwriter in Hollywood to be adapted to the screen. It’s sequel, The Dream Police, was published in the fall of 2016.