SIEPR’s Owen recognized for excellence in teaching
Bruce Owen, a senior fellow emeritus at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), has been awarded this year’s H&S Dean’s Award for Lifetime Achievements in Teaching.
The $5,000 award recognizes faculty for their lifetime dedication and commitment to outstanding teaching.
Owen is the Gordon Cain Senior Fellow at SIEPR and the Morris M. Doyle Centennial Professor in Public Policy, Emeritus, in the School of Humanities and Science.
His research interests focus on economic analysis of law, economic regulation and antitrust economics, especially in the telecommunications and mass media sectors.
“During his time at Stanford, Bruce has done an exceptional job of teaching and advising both graduate and undergraduate students with interests in public policy” said Mark Duggan, the Trione Director of SIEPR. “He has simultaneously produced important policy-relevant research while helping to shape the university’s approach to public policy teaching and scholarship.”
In 2004, Owen began a decade-long role as director of Stanford’s Public Policy Program. When he took the position, the program only had an undergraduate BA major, with about 20 graduates a year. He was tapped to develop an interdisciplinary two-year professional master's degree program, the MPP (Master of Public Policy).
“I was able to obtain approval for a Stanford MPP degree with the support of SIEPR and the deans of the schools of law, education, business, medicine, and H&S – each of which authorized the donation of teaching resources to the program and the establishment of joint and dual masters' and doctoral degrees,” Owen said.
The MPP program currently admits only current and former Stanford students, or students admitted to other Stanford schools who wish to pursue a joint degree. This year the program graduated about 25 masters' students.
Greg Rosston, SIEPR’s deputy director and the current director of the Public Policy Program, said Owen’s dedication to the program influenced scores of students to pursue careers in policy and public service.
“Bruce has high expectations for his students and provides them with the tools and support they need to succeed, both in the classroom and beyond,” Rosston said. “His students and the country have benefitted from his mentorship and advice.
Owen received a PhD in economics from Stanford in 1970, and later taught economics at Stanford and at the schools of law and business at Duke University.
He was chief economist of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy and later chief economist of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He was a co-founder and CEO of Economists Incorporated, a Washington, D.C., economic consulting firm, from 1980 to 2003.
He is the author or co-author of eight academic books and a large number of articles, and has appeared as an expert witness in several antitrust cases and regulatory proceedings.