Office Location: Bailey Hall 205
MailBox Location: 1221
Laura Mishne Heller is an Assistant Professor of Social Work and Field Placement Coordinator at Wilmington College and a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in Ohio. She is an interdisciplinary scholar who bridges social work, criminal justice, and public health, focusing on public health issues within carceral settings. Her scholarship was heavily influenced by her previous medical social worker and case manager career.
Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Criminal Justice Studies, and Sociology from THE Ohio State University and dual master’s degrees in Social Service (MSW equivalent) and Law and Social Policy from Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania). She is completing her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice at the University of North Dakota and expects to graduate in December 2025.
An advocate for justice system reform, Laura frequently collaborates with the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP), organizing educational events illuminating the harms of wrongful convictions and sparking community dialogue around systemic injustice. She is a member of The Pantheon of Critical Criminologists (T-POCC), a prison-based think tank. She collaborates on street Participatory Action Research (street PAR) projects focused on parole abolition and decarceral efforts in Ohio. She is also actively involved in the movement to abolish the death penalty through partnerships with Ohioans to Stop Executions and the Catholic Mobilizing Network.
Laura recently served as an Action Research and Rights Collective (ARRC) Faculty Fellow, helping to reignite participatory research on campus, within the community, and in the region, and as a Gender Equity Research Faculty Fellow, where she explored perceptions of value and recognition among non-tenure track faculty within hierarchical academic structures.
Her research interests include epidemiology criminology, prison education programs, death penalty and parole abolition, grief and loss, health and fitness accessibility, and promoting sustainable self-care practices among social workers. Outside academia, she volunteers for local non-profits and is a strength coach at NYXX Cycle + Strength in Norwood, Ohio. She is also a Cleveland Cavs, Guardians, and Browns fan.