About

Dr. Gala is retired after nearly 28-years of Federal service, of which nearly 21-years were with the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons as a Federal Officer/CTS, with a sum of 25-years of experience in law enforcement.

Presently, he is the Executive Director/Chief Research Consultant/Sr. Trainer with The Gala Group, Inc. (NPO-TN). He also conducts peer reviews for various entities of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education. He serves on a few committees of primary professional organizations and engages in community service.

He has 8-years of experience in teaching in higher education and as a P.O.S.T. Instructor. After his retirement, he held a joint appointment as an Associate Professor in Criminal Justice & Education at a college in South Central Tennessee for 4-years, 2-years as an adjunct instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and 2-years as an Associate Professor and full-member of the Graduate Faculty in Criminal Justice in the University of North Carolina System.

In addition to the published book with University Press of America, Dr. Gala has chapters in 4 different edited published books from 2013-2015, and several published professional articles, as well as having been an Associate Editor with a professional journal for nearly a decade and a reviewer with three different professional journals (based in Sociology/Criminology). Presently, he is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal, Multicultural Learning & Teaching.

Dr. Gala remains active in field research addressing Social Support Theory and its predictive power on early adolescents' propensity toward future violent behavior and the development of mental health programming for early adolescents to prevent the youth's future desire to engage in violent behavior.

Awards and Recognition

  • International Association of Correctional Training Personnel (IACTP), October 2014. President's Award.