“Wisconsin’s commitment to
diversity and public interest work
were the main
academic reasons
I came to Madison for law school.”
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Education: B.A., University of Chicago (Economics)
Employment: Teacher -- Gondar University School of Law; Gondar, Ethiopia
Law School Activities:
- Team Captain of Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition
- Chapter President of the National Black Law Students Association
- Volunteer for the Student Hurricane Network
- Proficient in Written & Spoken Japanese (Certified by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages)
Samuel L. Owens has had a long-standing interest in words and in learning about and experiencing other cultures. Despite balancing a rigorous undergraduate curriculum with the demands of being a student athlete, Sam, an all-conference/academic-all- conference football player, found the time and passion to write op-ed pieces for the University of Chicago’s campus newspaper. His writing focused on issues of diversity and minority issues on college campuses, and he spearheaded a campus-wide colloquium on minority issues.
Sam’s passion for words, both written and spoken, and his interest in openly addressing societal problems made law school a natural path for him. And his deep desire to explore the world around him, interact with people who are different from him, and gain insight into other cultures led him to his first law job. Sam found a way to combine his interests and explore a new continent when he accepted a position as an assistant professor of law at the University of Gondar Law School in Gondar, Ethiopia. He found the position through his own initiative, but was helped by the international connections of two of his UW Law School professors, Cliff Thompson and Larry Church, who had done developmental law work in Africa.
Read more in "An Interview with Sam Owens"
