Law School Mourns Passing of Kenneth Schoen, Former Director, Institute for Criminal Justice

September 20, 2021

Kenneth Schoen, former director of the Law School's Institute for Criminal Justice, died on Sept. 1 at the age of 89.

Schoen had a long career devoted to criminal justice reform, helping to develop alternatives to incarceration and improve prison conditions nationwide. He also served as Minnesota commissioner of corrections, and as director of criminal justice grantmaking for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in New York.

Schoen received his bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota and his master's from the University of Colorado in Denver. He served in the Army during the Korean War.

Professor Michael Tonry, director of the Law School’s Institute on Crime and Public Policy, told the Star Tribune that Schoen was “a linchpin figure in efforts to change the U.S. justice system.”

• Kenneth Schoen, ‘Linchpin’ in Criminal Justice Reform, Dies at 89 (New York Times)

Kenneth Schoen, former director of the Law School's Institute for Criminal Justice