Tom R. Tyler
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology and Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory
(on leave, spring 2024)
Tom R. Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School, as well as a Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory. He is also a professor (by courtesy) at the Yale School of Management. Professor Tyler's research explores the role of justice in shaping people's relationships with groups, organizations, communities, and societies.
FULL BIOGRAPHY

Contact Information
- Room 355
- 203-432-7432
- tom.tyler@yale.edu
Faculty Assistant
Patricia Florio
- J25
- 203-432-0164
- patricia.florio@yale.edu
Education & Curriculum Vitae
Ph.D. (Social Psychology), University of California, Los Angeles, 1978
M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1974
B.A., Columbia University, 1973
Courses Taught
- Criminal Justice Reform
- Empirical Research Seminar
- Social Science and Institutional Design
- Topics in Law and Psychology
Tom R. Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School, as well as a Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory. He is also a professor (by courtesy) at the Yale School of Management. He joined the Yale Law faculty in January 2012 as a professor of law and psychology. He was previously a University Professor at New York University, where he taught in both the psychology department and the law school. Prior to joining NYU in 1997, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Northwestern University.
Professor Tyler’s research explores the role of justice in shaping people’s relationships with groups, organizations, communities, and societies. In particular, he examines the role of judgments about the justice or injustice of group procedures in shaping legitimacy, compliance, and cooperation. He is the author of several books, including Why People Cooperate (2011); Legitimacy and Criminal Justice (2007); Why People Obey the Law (2006); Trust in the Law (2002); and Cooperation in Groups (2000). He was awarded the Harry Kalven prize for “paradigm shifting scholarship in the study of law and society” by the Law and Society Association in 2000, and in 2012, was honored by the International Society for Justice Research with its Lifetime Achievement Award for innovative research on social justice.
He holds a B.A. in psychology from Columbia and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
What’s Next for Policing?
In a new book, Professor Tom Tyler and Caroline Nobo of The Justice Collaboratory propose legitimacy-based policing as a new model to combat crime and build trust between police and the communities they serve.
Friday, December 16, 2022
A Year in Books: Faculty Address Critical Questions
A look at the books published by Yale Law School faculty in 2022.
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Can We Fix What’s Wrong with Social Media?
A look at how Yale Law School alumni, faculty, and students are grappling with some of the most difficult questions in the online environment.
Monday, April 18, 2022
Why Do We Obey the Law?
Project Syndicate
Scholarship by Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler is cited in a commentary about why people obey the law.
Friday, February 11, 2022
The Marriage of Psychology and Law
Professor Tom R. Tyler’s new book describes psychology and law as an interdisciplinary marriage.
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Hate-Crime Laws Don’t Work as Their Supporters Intended
The Atlantic
Research by Macklin Fleming Professor of Law Tom R. Tyler and the Justice Collaboratory are cited.
Thursday, October 1, 2020
What works to reduce police brutality
APA Monitor
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler and Justice Collaboratory member Phillip Atiba Goff’s research is cited in this article in the October issue of the APA Monitor on Psychology.
Friday, July 31, 2020
We train police to be warriors — and then send them out to be social workers
Vox
Professors Tracey L. Meares and Tom Tyler, Founding Directors of The Justice Collaborator, are quoted in a Vox article about police training.
Monday, June 29, 2020
Policing and Law Enforcement: Further Considerations from Psychological Science
Association for Psychological Science / The Observer
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler’s work on addressing racial bias in the police force is cited in the Association for Psychological Science newsletter, The Observer.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Police the Public, or Protect It? For a U.S. in Crisis, Hard Lessons From Other Countries
The New York Times
Tom Tyler, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology and Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory, is quoted in the New York Times about police reform initiatives in other countries.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Professors Meares and Tyler Join Coalition to Release Urgent Report on Police Reform
Professors Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler joined a coalition of scholars to release a reporting listing out urgently-needed reforms to address enduring problems in American policing
Monday, June 8, 2020
The First Step Is Figuring Out What Police Are For — A Commentary by Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler
Tha Atlantic
Tracey L. Meares is the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor and a Founding Director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. Tom R. Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School, as well as a Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Q&A with the Justice Collaboratory on Police Reform and Procedural Justice
Members of the Justice Collaboratory provide constructive steps forward in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Chicago police and city leaders defend handling of protests and looting as questions swirl over response some found lacking
Chicago Tribune
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology and Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory Tom Tyler is quoted in a Chicago Tribune article on that city’s response to protests over the death of George Floyd.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Can Procedural Justice Training Reduce Officer Misconduct?
The Crime Report
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler is cited in a Crime Report article about procedural justice training as experienced by the Chicago Police Department.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Professor Tyler Co-Authors Book on Children’s Legal Socialization
In their book, Why Children Follow Rules: Legal Socialization and the Development of Legitimacy, Tom Tyler and Rick Trinkner make a case for the possibility of a legal system based upon consent—rather than coercion.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Fairness key to trust in police force
Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler is profiled on the occasion of his appearance at the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand conference.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
‘Proactive Policing’ Credited With Crime Reductions
The Crime Report
Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Tracey Meares, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler, and Rachel Harmon ’96 are mentioned in a story about a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on proactive policing strategies.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Three New Books Discuss How to Confront and Reform Racist Policing
The New York Times
Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Tracey Meares and Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler are mentioned in a book review of “Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment” in which they have an essay.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Professors Tyler and Meares to Hold Webinar on Procedural Justice
Professors Tom Tyler and Tracey Meares will present research during a free webinar on “The Importance of Enhancing Procedural Justice in Interactions with Juveniles," on July 27 at 2pm.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Portal Project to Capture Discourse of Fairness, Justice, Equality
The Justice Collaboratory will join with Shared_Studios and artist Amar Bakshi ’15 to bring Portals, a Global Public Art Initiative, to Newark, New Jersey, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin beginning on April 18 to address issues within the United States criminal justice system.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
What cities can learn from New Haven's fight to rein in gang violence: Seeking Solutions
Cleveland.com
Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Tracey Meares, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler and Justice Collaboratory Program Director Megan Quattlebaum are academic partners to Project Longevity, a multi-city initiative to curb urban violence, and a study co-authored by adjunct professor Andrew Pappachristos is cited in the article.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Training for Police Departments in Procedural Justice
The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice launched a three-day procedural justice training in its six pilot sites in February 2016.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Meares, Tyler, and Goff to Serve on Panel on Proactive Policing
Three members of the Justice Collaboratory—Tracey Meares, Tom Tyler, and Phillip Atiba Goff—were named to serve on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Proactive Policing.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Scope of police questioned in U. of C. lectures
Hyde Park Herald
Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Tracey Meares and Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler are quoted in an article about lectures they gave at the University of Chicago Law School.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
The simple idea that could transform US criminal justice
The Guardian
Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Tracey Meares and Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler are quoted in an article about procedural justice. Cory Booker ’97 is mentioned.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Justice Collaboratory Holds Inaugural Conference
The Justice Collaboratory at Yale held its first conference on April 16 & 17 on Policing Post-Ferguson. Vanita Gupta, Acting Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, delivered the keynote address.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
The Justice Department Announces the First Six Pilot Sites For the National Effort to Build Trust and Reconciliation
The Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School is one of the academic institutions that have joined together to form the National Initiative.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Easing tensions: Federal efforts tap psychologists to help defuse tensions between communities and police.
Monitor on Psychology
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Tom Tyler is quoted, and The Justice Collaboratory mentioned, in an article about initiatives aimed at improving the relationships between police forces and the communities they serve.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Professor Tyler Co-Authors Study about the Impact of Street Stops on Police Legitimacy
A study by professors at Yale, Columbia, and New York University found that young men’s interactions with police generally negatively influenced their views about police legitimacy.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Study Analyzes Impact of Police Stops on Mental Health
A study by professors at Yale and Columbia universities has found a connection between what happens when they interact with the police and increased anxiety and trauma in young men.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Video Blinds Us to the Evidence, NYU, Yale Study Finds
A new study co-authored by Professor Tom Tyler shows that where people look when watching video evidence varies wildly and has has profound consequences for bias in legal punishment decisions. The study was a collaboration between New York University researchers and Tyler.
Monday, September 22, 2014
YLS Professors Enlisted in Nationwide Initiative to Build Community Trust and Justice
U.S. Department of Justice launches the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice, which will be funded through a $4.75 million collaborative agreement. The initiative brings together a team of experts, including Yale Law School Professors Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Corporate Law Roundtable to take place March 7
Leading corporate lawyers, members of the business and investment communities, public officials, and scholars will gather at Yale Law School on Friday, March 7 for the 15th annual Weil, Gotshal and Manges Rountable.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Stanley Milgram Library Exhibit, Conference Will Examine his Legacy and Influence on Law and Social Psychology
The Lillian Goldman Law Library will feature a new exhibit on the work of former Yale University social psychologist Stanley Milgram on October 11, 2013.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Rolling Law Out to the Streets
Yale Law School Professors Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler are working at the forefront of two issues faced by police across the country: reducing gun violence and improving the legitimacy of law enforcement. Both Meares and Tyler are leading the way in using research and cutting-edge theory in law and social science to create strategies to promote crime reduction, procedural justice, and legitimacy of law.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Scott Shapiro ’90 Appointed Charles F. Southmayd Professor of Law; Tom Tyler Named Inaugural Macklin Fleming Professor of Law
Scott Shapiro has been named the Charles F. Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School, and Tom Tyler has been named the inaugural Macklin Fleming Professor of Law.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tom Tyler Honored for Lifetime Achievement in Justice Scholarship and Research
Tom Tyler, who will join the Yale Law faculty in January 2012 as a Professor of Law, has been honored by the International Society for Justice Research with its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tom Tyler to Join Law School Faculty in January as Professor of Law
Tom Tyler will join the Yale Law School faculty in January 2012 as a Professor of Law.