Jan Bashinski Criminalistics Graduate Thesis Assistance Grant

Grant Information

Grant Amount

The Jan Bashinski Grant award is $1,850. In addition, up to $1,400 is available for travel expenses to attend a future American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Annual Scientific Conference where the awardee has an approved platform presentation of the completed research. The funding must be used to complete the research project.

Eligibility and Submission Requirements:

• Applicants must be AAFS Student Affiliates.
• The applicant must be a full- or part-time student completing his or her graduate degree requirements by conducting a research project at an educational institution accredited in the United States by a recognized academic body.
• This project must, in the opinion of the Forensic Sciences Foundation (FSF) Awards Committee, make a significant scientific contribution to the field of Criminalistics/Forensic Sciences.
• No student is eligible for more than one grant until at least six (6) years have elapsed since receipt of a previous Jan's Forensic Science Fund–Grant.
• Please complete the application at the link below and submit with the required attachments outlined in Part II on the application form: FSF Jan S. Bashinski Criminalistics Graduate Thesis Assistance Grant Form.

Submission Deadline

All submissions must be received and completed by July 31 (11:59 p.m. MDT). 

Please submit the aforementioned Jan S. Bashinski Criminalistics Graduate Thesis Assistance Grant Eligibility Requirements electronically (with attachments in PDF format) to Kimberly Wrasse at kwrasse@aafs.org. The FSF will confirm receipt of all submissions within two business days. If confirmation is not received within two business days, the applicant should contact Kimberly Wrasse at kwrasse@aafs.org. The committee will make its decision no later than October 1 and all applicants will be notified shortly thereafter.

  Jan S. Bashinski's Professional Story

Jan led an extraordinary professional life as a towering figure in forensic science, both locally and nationally. Her career can be characterized as one of equal parts zest, impatience, good humor, great intelligence, and total commitment.  "Lead, follow, or get out of the way" was the caption under a picture of ducks in the office of the Crime Lab Director at the Oakland Police Department. Director Jan Bashinski enjoyed that sentiment and it fit her management style quite well.

She began her career in 1964, as the first woman to join the Oakland Police Department Crime Lab as a Criminalist and was a protégé of Laboratory Director John Davis, a forensic force in his own right.  Mr. Davis taught Jan the generalist approach to criminalistics for the evaluation of evidence, and the methodical approach to the reconstruction of crime scenes. From John Davis, Jan developed her clear philosophy and fearlessness about professional responsibility. The eager protégée and the very capable mentor collaborated on research and published methods for the ABO typing of bloodstains and for the detection of lead in gunpowder patterns. While working full-time and raising two children, Jan completed a Master of Criminology degree in Criminalistics under the tutelage of Dr. George Sensabaugh with the able help of his associate Dr. Edward Blake at U.C. Berkeley in 1974.

When Mr. Davis retired in 1977, Jan succeeded him as laboratory director — the first woman to reach that position in a California crime lab.  She aggressively sought to improve service, add new technology and hire more Criminalists, many of whom just happened to be women.

In 1983, due to Jan's determination and leadership, the OPD Crime Lab became the first crime lab in California and the fourth in the nation to be accredited by the ASCLD/LAB American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board. 

Jan firmly believed in the need for the forensic science community to take responsibility for its own professional destiny. She was a champion of certification and accreditation and was out front in these endeavors during their early evolution.  She was always mindful of the need for accreditation to be open and responsive to a broad forensic science community so that no laboratory would be unable to achieve an accredited status.

Jan authored and co-authored over seventy publications, presentations and invited lectures. Her activity in professional organizations is dizzying. The CAC, AAFS, ASCLD/LAB, CACLD are some of the groups of which Jan was a member and in which she held various positions. 

During her employment at OPD, Jan collaborated with her academic colleagues, Dr. Ed Blake and Dr. George Sensabaugh on federally funded research that advanced the extraction of genetic information from biological evidence. Improving the analysis of evidence of sexual assault was a subject that was of great interest to her and was prominent in her research and professional work.

Protégée, Practitioner, Researcher, Director — there seemed only one challenge left for Jan: Creator. That challenge was met in 1989, when Jan was offered the job of starting, from scratch, the California State DNA Laboratory Program and the statewide DNA Offender Database. Beginning with a staff of two, this enterprise has grown to a staff of over 100. Technology advanced under her direction and in 1993, the DNA laboratory became accredited — the first of the CA DOJ laboratories to do so. 

In 1994, Jan became the Acting Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Forensic Services, California Department of Justice. In this capacity she also oversaw the California Criminalistics Institute and expanded its course offerings to include previously ignored disciplines, such as questioned documents.

After only a year as Assistant Chief, Jan was chosen to be Chief of the DOJ Bureau of Forensic Services. Now she was in charge of the entire state crime lab system, comprised of 400 employees and serving 46 of the 58 counties in California.  Jan was largely responsible for encouraging the governor's office to fund the $50 million Cold Hit Program.  The Program's design was largely due to Jan.  It brought badly needed funding to local labs, enabling them to address a large backlog of evidence in old, unsolved homicide and sexual assault cases. As a result of this grant, approximately 10,234 cases throughout the state have been re-opened; 366 cold hits to offenders and 318 case-to-case associations have been made as a result of DNA analysis.

Jan excelled in all her endeavors and in every position she held, so naturally there were awards — and Jan received every award for which she was nominated; to name a few:

• Distinguished Member of the California Association of Criminalists, 1984
• Paul L. Kirk Award of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 1992
• Douglas M. Lucas Distinguished Service Award of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board, 2002
• Outstanding Achievement Award of the National Center for Forensic Sciences, 2002
• Briggs White Award of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, 2002
• Mary E. Cowan Award of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 2003

Her Legacy

The DOJ DNA laboratory, now located in Richmond, California, through legislation passed by the State of California was officially named in her honor: The Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory.

The memorial Jan Bashinski Criminalistics Graduate Thesis Assistance Grant was established by Jan's family to honor her contributions to Forensic Science and foster interest in the next generation to conduct broad forensic science research.  Offering financial assistance to graduate students to complete projects and to present and publish the results is a fitting tribute and emblematic of Jan's own forensic science contributions.

Jan possessed the knowledge, the power, and most importantly, the wisdom to secure her place as a legend in the field of forensic science. Being the first woman in so many of her endeavors inspires women forensic scientists to continue the professional leadership role. Having a crime lab named her honor is a testament to her dedication and commitment to the advancement of forensic science. Her colleagues and professional progeny, of whom many AAFS members are a part, are all in her debt for her indefatigable spirit and passion.