The Greenspun College of Urban Affairs faculty and staff extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Randall (Randy) Shelden, a longtime professor of criminal justice.
Shelden passed away on June 19, 2026, in Las Vegas. He started working at UNLV in 1977 and served for the next 46 years, retiring in 2024. He received a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Los Angeles and a master’s degree from the University of Memphis before receiving his Ph.D. in sociology from Southern Illinois University.
His accomplishments were extensive. He was proud of his service in the U.S. Navy and felt good about being able to say he was a veteran. He was most proud of his role as a professor that started here at UNLV after graduating from SIU. Shelden came to UNLV and was one of the early faculty members at UNLV focusing on criminal justice issues. He was instrumental in UNLV's early days in developing the criminal justice program including the creation of a masters’ degree in the late 1980s.
He was a prolific author publishing more than 20 books and more than 50 articles. Several of his books were so well received they went into multiple editions. In 1992, he received national recognition for his “Outstanding Contribution to Criminology.” He was a co-editor of the Justice Policy Journal and was actively associated with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice based out of San Francisco.
Shelden was unique in his strong commitment to conduct research that promoted social justice while being an award-winning teacher. He won the UNLV’s Outstanding Teacher Award on six different occasions. But he had another passion: Tucked inside his shelves of academic books was a significant collection of books on baseball, especially his favorite team: the Boston Red Sox.
