Celebrating the Life of Dr. Daniel Vencill

It is with a heavy heart that I am letting you know of the passing of one of our longtime faculty members, Dr. Dan Vencill. Dan passed peacefully on October 30, 2025, with his two daughters at his side.

While many of you may not have met him, he was one of the founders of our program, and even hired our very first tenure-track faculty member, Dr. Jeff Snipes. Dan earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University and began working at SFSU as a faculty member in 1977, where he served as a Professor in Economics. Upon retirement in 2010, Dan was awarded Professor Emeritus in Economics. 

After retirement, he continued to teach in the Criminal Justice Studies program, bringing his deep understanding of the intersections between macroeconomics and crime to our curriculum. Dan last taught for us in Fall 2024 and many of you may have taken him for CJ 300. Several of us were lucky to have dinner with him this past semester, and can attest to how Dan was a remarkable force, researching, publishing, providing expert testimony to a range of organizations, and making a substantial impact on the profession, right up until the point where the ravages of age forced him into hospice late this summer. Dan not only has an extensive research profile, but he cared deeply about our students, providing frequent contributions to Golden Gate Xpress articles and engaging students in the many lessons of crime and economics. 

On April 7, 2026, the Departments of Criminal Justice Studies and Economics will be hosting a celebration of Dan's life at 5pm in LIB 286. If you would like to attend, please email cj@sfsu.edu or RSPV here (or visit the QR code on the attached flyer). 

We look forward to remembering Dr. Vencill with you in April.