CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Thomas S. Ulen, professor of law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was named a Swanlund Chair at an investiture ceremony today.
Swanlund Chairs are the highest endowed titles at the university, created to recognize faculty members for outstanding contributions in their fields.
Ulen joins 14 other scholars who have been appointed to the endowed chairs made possible by a gift from alumna Maybelle Leland Swanlund.
Ulen, who joined the law faculty in 1983, is the director of the Program in Law and Economics, a research affiliate of the Environmental Council, and holds positions on the Campus Honors faculty, economics department and Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
He has written five books and hundreds of articles, book chapters and book reviews. He teaches courses on the economic analysis of law, quantitative methods of legal decision-making and an undergraduate introductory course on law.
Ulen received a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, a master's from St. Catherine's College, Oxford, and a doctorate in economics from Stanford University.
"He is a tremendous educator and legal scholar; a prolific writer and researcher," said Heidi M. Hurd, the dean of the College of Law. "His scholarship draws students and other scholars to the University of Illinois, and we are very pleased to see him recognized in this way."