Michael Leo OwensProfessor

• Ph.D., State University of New York, Albany, 2001

Michael Leo Owens is a scholar of urban politics; local and state politics; the politics of policing and criminal punishment; governance and public policy; religion and politics; and African American politics. Among his multiple awards for research, teaching, and service is the 2023 Emory Williams Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award (Social Sciences) from the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.

 His books include Deadly Force: Police Shootings in Urban America (Princeton University Press, 2025) and God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America (University of Chicago, 2007). His current book project is Prisoners of Democracy: Dignity and Carceral Citizenship’s End. It interrogates public policies and political attitudes that diminish the political, social, and civil rights of persons convicted of felonies and it examines political participation by such persons to restore their political, social, and civil rights. 

 His peer-reviewed articles appear in a range of journals (e.g., Journal of Politics, Nature Human Behaviour, Urban Studies, Journal of Urban Affairs, and Urban Affairs Review). Additionally, media (e.g., The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, National Public Radio, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) have shared his scholarly insights with global audiences.

 Additionally, Owens is an associate editor of the Journal of Urban Affairs, an international corresponding editor of Urban Studies, and serves on the editorial boards of Politics, Groups, and Identities and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City.

 A former member, vice chair, and chair of the Governing Board of the international Urban Affairs Association, his civic service record includes board memberships with the Georgia Justice Project, Prison Policy Initiative, and Foreverfamily (née Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers).