(BOP) - Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Jim L. Cosby as the Director of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), effective February 22, 2015. Deputy Director Robert Brown had been serving as acting Director since the retirement of former Director Morris Thigpen.
Mr. Cosby began his career in corrections in 1978 as a probation and parole officer for the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole. Over the next 21 years, he was promoted to positions of increasing responsibility within the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole, including serving as Regional Director. From 1999 – 2004, he served as the State Director of Probation and Parole and was appointed Assistant Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Corrections in 2004.
In 2011, Mr. Cosby began working for NIC as the Chief of the Community Services Division. He was responsible for the coordination of technical assistance, specialized training, and programs related to probation, parole, and other forms of community-based corrections. He worked diligently to bring innovative projects to state and local correctional systems throughout the country.
On the occasion of Jim's appointment as Director of NIC, Bureau of Prisons Director Charles E. Samuels, Jr., commented: "I am looking forward to working with Jim in his new capacity. His experience and commitment to public service are commendable. I am confident he is going to do great things to assist state and local corrections agencies around the country. The National Institute of Corrections provides vital programs and services for the tens of thousands of corrections professionals around the country; I know Jim is going to continue to enhance the Institute’s outstanding reputation for quality training and technical assistance. We in the Bureau of Prisons also benefit from their outstanding work and I look forward to our continued collaboration."