Richard McDonald (academic)

Richard (Rish) McDonald is a British-Irish civil servant and academic who has published work in the field of criminology and religious studies.

Early life and education
Richard was born in Nottingham. He completed a BA in Politics and the Study of Religion at SOAS, University of London, an MSc in Gender at the London School of Economics, an MA in Religion in Global Politics again at SOAS, and is currently completing an MSt in Applied Criminology, Penology, and Management at the University of Cambridge.

Career
Richard is a career Civil Servant and was previously appointed to the Probation Service as Head of Equalities Policy. They are also a former Magistrate and sit on the board of a charity in Nottingham. Before their academic and policy career, they were a fashion stylist in London, working on both editorial and runway campaigns for designers such as Pam Hogg.

Academic contributions
Richard is an academic at the intersections of Criminology and Religion. He is in the top 5% of most-read academics on Academia.edu. He has also given a guest lecture on Gender Mainstreaming in public policy at Universities such as the London School of Economics and Think Tanks such as Apolitical.

Selected publications

 * "Radicalisation of Norse Pagans in English and Welsh Prisons", in Germanic and Slavic Paganisms: Security Threats and Resiliency, edited by Kaarina Aitamurto, Ross Downing, Suzanne Newcombe, and Sarah Harvey, Bloomsbury, 2023, ISBN 9781350423923.