Page 54 - February 2020 FOP Magazine

Education Spotlight
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An article about a Lodge 7 Magazine Sponsor
A ‘Mark’ above the rest
Vesna Markovic brings her criminal justice expertise to Lewis University
n BY KAREN STAHL
When Vesna Markovic attended undergraduate classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. That is, until a criminal investigations class taught by the late Richard Ward changed everything.
The professor, a former commander of university police and associate vice chancellor for special programs, had set up a sim- ulation where he was murdered and asked his students to solve the case.
For an entire semester, her fellow undergrads worked tirelessly, submitting requests for evidence and gathering information to try and crack it.
“I look at a problem and say, ‘OK, what is our goal, and how can we achieve it?’” she shared.
Weeks full of analysis and evidence requests passed. It was just before the halfway point in the semester when Markovic solved
he case. Ward was in awe.
The professor became her mentor, utilizing her
alents in the 1990s to help him administer surveys
or some of the first community policing research studies. Then, he brought her a proposal.
“I know a guy who’s looking for somebody to work private in- vestigations,” she recalled Ward saying to her. She applied on a whim and landed the job.
Her future was set. A spry 20-something, Markovic would be replacing a woman who had worked for the FBI. Being on the ground level of criminal justice was just the start for this Chicago- born-and-raised go-getter. Now, 20 years later, she serves as chair of the Lewis University Justice, Law and Public Safety Studies De- partment.
After decades of international travel and work, Markovic has the know-how to propel students forward and a compelling edge that puts the program a mark above the rest.
“I absolutely have a passion for [teaching],” she proclaimed. “Without the mentorship I received, who knows what I would’ve ended up doing.”
And for Markovic, being at Lewis University is a special kind of homecoming.
‘Opened up a whole world’
The smudges of Chicago soil framed Markovic’s childhood. A first-generation Chicagoan with immigrant parents from Serbia, the city’s energy piqued Markovic’s curiosity.
“[A neighbor and I] used to root around and pretend we were doing private investigations,” she reminisced. “I had a pretty big backyard, so we would dig there. We pretended we had clients we were going to investigate at the library.”
Markovic’s story has been writing itself since childhood. She started kindergarten a year early and attended Lane Tech College Prep for high school. This led to her graduating from college a se- mester early, in 1995, just two weeks after turning 21.
While working the private investigator gig, she decided to pur- sue a master’s degree in criminal justice. But handling a full-time job while also attending school full-time became too much. So, after three whirlwind years, she quit the job to focus on finishing her degree.
She became a program coordinator on a policing grant called Cop to Cop: An International Police Exchange and graduated with her master’s in 1999. Yet she still wasn’t satisfied.
54 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2020
Dr. Vesna Markovic, a Lewis University chair and associate professor of jus- tice, law and public safety studies, in her office with a painting of Frida Kah- lo, given to her by a former colleague.
“I was like, ‘Well, what do I really want to do?’” Markovic re- called.
And then Sept. 11, 2001, happened. The watershed moment propelled her to go back to school, and Ward convinced his pro- tege to pursue a doctorate at Sam Houston State University in Texas.
Fully immersed in research, Markovic started receiving invites to speak worldwide. In 2008, the Turkish National Police asked her to present at a conference. There, she was noticed by the NA- TO-accredited Centre of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) in Ankara, Turkey.
“It just opened up a whole world,” Markovic recalled. “I started doing presentations like that, and then just publishing and peo- ple getting to know you, or having some relationships and saying, ‘Hey, can you come lecture to our group?’”
For the past 15 years, Markovic has researched transnational crime, suicide bombings and low-tech terrorism attacks. And af- ter 10 years in Texas, seven years teaching in Connecticut, a se- mester in Italy and countless trips in between, Markovic yearned to return to her roots.
Staying on the cutting edge
When, in January 2018, Markovic arrived at Lewis University, it felt like a reunion. Just 35 miles southwest from where she grew up, the world traveler’s feet became firmly planted.
After a year as a professor, her colleagues nominated her for department chair. She took over the position in August 2019.
This woman of action started the process of approving a new undergraduate program that will combine computer science and criminal justice. A firm believer in the power of professionalizing policing, she revamped the master’s program to include criminal justice and security studies.
“When [cops] go through our program, they’re going to get the basics of the criminal justice system,” Markovic affirmed. “It re- ally does benefit in the long run, especially for people that have that goal of attaining either [a] higher rank or going to federal em- ployment.”