Rate My Professor Ryan Owens

Ryan Owens is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Florida Institute on Governance and Civics at Florida State University, where he also holds an affiliate faculty position in the College of Law. He joined Florida State University in 2024 after serving as Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2011 to 2024. Previously, Owens was Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University from 2008 to 2011. Prior to entering academia, he practiced law. Owens earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2008, M.A. in Political Science from the same institution in 2005, J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001, and B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Owens specializes in law and courts as well as American politics and institutions, with focused research on the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals, legal institutions, and judicial behavior. His scholarship has appeared in premier outlets such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Georgetown Law Journal, William & Mary Law Review, University of Illinois Law Review, Law & Society Review, and Journal of Law and Courts. Key publications include the book Cognitive Aging and the Federal Circuit Courts: How Senescence Influences the Law and Judges (2024), which earned the C. Herman Pritchett Award; "Courting the President: How Circuit Court Judges Alter Their Behavior for Promotion to the Supreme Court" (American Journal of Political Science, 2016, with Ryan C. Black); "The Separation of Powers and Supreme Court Agenda Setting" (American Journal of Political Science, 2010); and "A Built-In Advantage" (Political Research Quarterly, 2013, with Ryan C. Black). He has secured research grants from the National Science Foundation, Harvard Provost's Office, University of Wisconsin Graduate School, Center for Empirical Research in the Law, and George H.W. Bush Library Foundation. Owens received the inaugural undergraduate mentoring award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of the Provost. His work contributes to understanding judicial decision-making and institutional dynamics in American politics.