Michael Stokes Paulsen
{{Short description|American legal scholar (1959-)}}
{{Third-party|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Paulsen
| birth_name = Michael Stokes Paulsen
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|4|24}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Northwestern University (BA)
Yale University (MA, JD)
| occupation = {{hlist|Legal scholar|author|professor}}
| spouse = {{Marriage|Kristen Stokes Paulsen|1987}}
}}
Michael Stokes Paulsen (born April 24, 1959) is an American legal scholar.{{Cite web |title=Michael Paulsen |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=65wyx_kAAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=scholar.google.com}} He is a professor and the Distinguished University Chair at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and was previously the McKnight Presidential Professor of Law & Public Policy at the University of Minnesota Law School.{{Cite web |title=Michael Paulsen {{!}} Biography |url=https://conferences.law.stanford.edu/text-and-what-kind-of-history/speakers/michael-paulsen/ |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=SLS {{!}} Text and (What Kind of) History? |publisher=Stanford Law School |language=en-US}}
Early life and education <!--Note: Some of these citations apply also to other sentences in their respective paragraph, especially preceding ones.-->
Paulsen was born on April 24, 1959. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with distinction in economics with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, then was enrolled in the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he was selected for the Northwestern Law Review, from 1981 to 1982.{{Cite web |title=Michael Paulsen |url=https://www.hoover.org/profiles/michael-paulsen |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Hoover Institution |language=en}} Paulsen later transferred to Yale University, where he dual enrolled in Yale Divinity School and Yale Law School.{{Cite web |date=October 2023 |title=Michael Stokes Paulsen {{!}} Curriculum Vitae |url=https://law.stthomas.edu/_media-library/faculty-bios/cv/paulsen-michael-cv.pdf |access-date=October 29, 2023 |website=University of St. Thomas School of Law}}
As a student at Yale Law School, Paulsen was roommates with Akhil Amar, studied under Robert Bork, and served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.{{Cite web |last=Harrington |first=Ann |title=The Sharpening of a Scholar |url=https://news.stthomas.edu/publication-article/the-sharpening-of-a-scholar/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Newsroom {{!}} University of St. Thomas |language=en-US}} He received both his Master of Arts (M.A.) in religion and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale in 1985. Paulsen also had been the student director of the recently-established Federalist Society chapter at Yale Law School and the director of the Yale Moot Court.
Legal career
In 1991, Paulsen became an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School; he was promoted to a full-time professorship in 1998. He was the university's Julius E. Davis Professor from 1998–1999, an associate dean from 2004–2007, and was appointed as the McKnight Presidential Professor of Law & Public Policy in 2004, serving in that position until 2007. In 2007, Paulsen became a professor of law and the Distinguished University Chair at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Stokes is a political conservative. He regularly speaks at the Federalist Society.{{Cite web |last=Corey |first=Mary |date=2023-09-19 |title=Michael Stokes Paulsen speaks at UMich Constitution Day event |url=http://www.michigandaily.com/government/umich-welcomes-michael-stokes-paulsen-for-annual-constitution-day-lecture/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}