Mark Hurwitz

Dr. Mark S. Hurwitz is currently on leave from Western Michigan University as he serves as Program Director for the Law and Social Sciences Program at the National Science Foundation. His research focuses on judicial politics in federal and state courts, judicial behavior, judicial selection and diversity. Hurwitz has published his research in political science and law journals such as American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, Justice System Journal, Law & Policy, Judicature, Review of Policy Research, and American Review of Politics, among others. Hurwitz is co-principal investigator for the WMU Cooley Law School Innocence Project, which analyzes DNA evidence to exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals, based on a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice in the amount of $418,000. He served as Special Assistant to the Provost with respect to the affiliation between Western Michigan University and WMU Cooley Law School. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Justice System Journal, and he now is a member of its Editorial Board. Hurwitz previously held faculty positions at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) and University of Utah, and he practiced law in New York City before earning his Ph.D. in political science.