Dr. Terrance Hinton changes the lives of students in Columbus through teaching

By Cailyn Burr

Ohio State sociology professor, Terrance Hinton, continuously strives to have a positive impact on the students of Ohio State and the greater Columbus community through his work within the Criminal Justice and Non-Profit/Public Administration field over the past 12 years.

Hinton is known for his work with the Ohio Prison Education Exchange Project, an immersive classroom experience taught at the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW). In his classes, Hinton teaches corrections courses for both incarcerated individuals and current Ohio State students. 

Credit: Terrance Hinton

Before becoming a professor, Hinton said he dreamt of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. He said he earned a biology degree from Wingate University Charlotte, where he also played football, sat on the student-athletic council and was a cheerleader during basketball season. 

After graduating from Wingate, Hinton said he decided to pursue his passion for both criminal justice and teaching. 

Hinton said that he felt called to teach incarcerated individuals after he witnessed his family members’ difficulties in finding work after incarceration. 

“I became very frustrated,” Hinton said. “How are people supposed to come back from this if they are not given those opportunities?” 

Hinton said this revelation pushed him to earn a master’s degree in criminal justice from Southern University and A&M College. 

Hinton then pursued a career with the FBI, yet declined after deciding he was “more interested in how people come back from incarceration.” Hinton said this led him to earn a doctorate degree in public policy and administration at Walden University. 

Paul Bellair, sociology professor at Ohio State and director of the Criminal Justice Research Center, said he partnered with Hinton for the development of a reentry course for the online master’s and public administration and leadership degree as well as the criminal justice administration certificate. 

Bellair said he aided in Hinton’s hiring at Ohio State after observing the work Hinton conducted with Alvis, a nonprofit human services agency focused on turning individuals’ lives around with reentry programs, substance recovery programs, developmental disability services and more. Bellair said he then connected Hinton with the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and the Sociology department.

“He clearly had well-defined career goals,” Bellair said.

Robert Greenbaum, associate dean of curriculum for the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, is one of the faculty members at Ohio State who impacted Hinton’s career. Greenbaum oversaw his partnership with Bellair in the development of courses at Ohio State focused on criminal justice and reentry due to Hinton’s knowledge on the topic.

When discussing the criminal justice administration course Hinton teaches at the ORW, Greenbaum said, “It’s a heavy burden to teach that class.”

Hinton said he recently partnered with the Mount Leadership Society Scholars Program to discuss masculinity versus toxic masculinity. His current teaching role at a women’s prison motivated him to discuss this topic after witnessing how quickly life can change at any given time.

“I have worked with thousands of incarcerated people who did not have parents, did not have a father, did not have a mother in the home and because I had a healthy balance of understanding masculinity from both my mother and my father, I knew it was my duty to speak on this,” Hinton said.

Hinton said having a positive representation of masculinity helped him be a better father, a better husband, a better professor and a better leader. 

Hinton’s goal with his work is to “teach others to be open minded.” He wants his students to understand that if they’re open to learning new things, the sky's the limit for what you can do. He values being a true public servant and giving back to his community. 

“If you come out of OSU with a degree and you have no idea what you want to do, that’s perfectly normal. Do not be surprised if you end up going into a completely different career path,” Hinton said.