Graduate Student Spotlight: Kexin Cui

October 16, 2024

Kexin Cui, a graduate student in the School of Criminal Justice, was born and raised in China before moving the United States to attend high school in California. After graduating from high school, Cui moved across the country to Boston to attend Northeastern University.

Having an initial interest in pursuing a Psychology degree, Cui’s first exposure to Criminal Justice was a chance encounter after her advisor recommended taking a class that was outside of her general interests.

This criminal justice class changed Cui’s future direction. “Taking the class, it was all very altruistic; discussing how things should be. Yet, I saw the disparities between the theory and the real world” Cui said.

Cui. Changed her major to Criminal Justice and enrolled in two minors: psychology and Photography. While at Northeastern University, Cui was involved in multiple student clubs, including the Psychology, Knitting, and Fencing clubs. She also held an internship with TJX, the holding company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, as an analyst in their loss prevention department.

Cui continued on at Northeastern to earn her Masters Degree in Criminology & Criminal Justice before coming to Michigan State University to pursue a PhD in Criminal Justice.

Her interest in cybercrime developed while working with a professor who was doing research work on Russian and East European hackers. “When I joined the research project, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying the research and the topic. Later on I was nearly a victim of cyber related fraud. I was targeted, played along the scheme to see how it would go, and then called it quits when they started asking for ‘bail money.’ This really solidified my interest in this field. I wanted to make a difference,” said Cui.

At MSU, Cui is studying victimization and the dark net. She is currently working with Dr. Rachel McNealey in studying cyber offending and victimization and their correlated factors. She will also be working on the Cybercrimes Investigations and Training Center, led by Dr. Tom Holt.

Outside of academia, Cui enjoys Photography, an interest she developed in high school. Her photography focuses on still life and fine art and has even featured in a few exhibitions. Speaking on how her photography has evolved over the years, Cui says “first, my photography started about capturing moments and keeping memories for people in school. Later, with still life, it was to discuss deeper philosophical ideas.”