Dr. Ray Wickenheiser is currently the Director for the New York State Police Crime Lab System, headquartered in Albany, New York.  He is also a Past President of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) and the 2022 Briggs J. White Ward recipient .  Ray has over 38 years of forensic science experience, with 21 of those as a Crime Lab Director in local and State Crime Laboratories.  His areas of expertise include crime lab administration, quality management, forensic DNA, serology, hair and fiber trace evidence, physical matching and comparison, glass fracture analysis, forensic grain comparison and genetic genealogy.  Ray is currently the Chair of the Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science.

In New York, Ray is a member of the New York Crime Lab Advisory Committee (NYCLAC).  Ray is a fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS), and has been an invited guest to the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) since 2013.  He was a member of the Department of Justice: National Institute of Justice Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Working Group publishing the “National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kit: A Multidisciplinary Approach”.

Ray is a qualified ISO Auditor, conducting audits in 10 states as an auditor and DNA lead auditor.  He has testified as an expert witness over 90 times, published numerous scientific articles, a book chapter, and is a frequent presenter at workshops and conferences.  Ray has served as a peer-reviewer for a number of journals and advisor to several university forensic programs.  Ray has also served as an adjunct professor, teaching criminalistics at Montgomery College, Maryland.  Ray holds a Bachelor of Science Honours degree from the University of Regina, Canada, a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, a Doctorate of Professional Studies in Bioethics, Health Ethics and Policy from Albany Medical College, and a certificate in Genetic Genealogy from Boston University.  Ray’s interests include Investigative Genealogy, touch DNA and playing ice hockey.