With a Ph.D. in political science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques and a B.A. and M.A. in American Studies from the University of Paris-Sorbonne, Sophie Body-Gendrot is a Professor of Political Science and of American studies at the Sorbonne, Paris.
She founded the Center for Urban Studies (CEUMA). She is a researcher at the Centre de recherche sociologique sur le droit et les institutions pénales (CNRS-CESDIP-Dept of Justice) and an expert for the program Urban Age at the London School of Economics on safety and public space. She is also a member of the French Civilian Police Review Commission.
At the September 2008 ESC Annual Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, she was elected Incoming President of the European Society for Criminology.