John Keith Irwin (1929-2010) was an internationally known expert on the American prison system and published numerous books and dozens of scholarly articles on the topic.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Irwin robbed a gas station in 1952, and served a five-year prison term for armed robbery. After his release, he earned a bachelor’s degree at UCLA and his Ph.D. in sociology from UC Berkeley. He later became a professor and chaired the sociology department at SF State, where he taught for 27 years until his retirement.

In addition to Project Rebound, Irwin also co-founded the Prisoners Rights Union in 1971 to help inmates push for their civil rights, and worked closely with the California Legislature on the 1976 Uniform Sentencing Act.