Rate My Professor Ryan Owens

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.