The S. Sidney Ulmer Project for Research in Law and Judicial Politics

Sponsored by the University of Kentucky Department of Political Science

The Department of Political Science at the University of Kentucky is pleased to sponsor the S. Sidney Ulmer Project for Research in Law and Judicial Politics. Named after S. Sidney Ulmer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky, this program aims to promote quality research in law and judicial politics - a goal to which Professor Ulmer devoted his esteemed career. As a testament to Professor Ulmer's influence in the field, the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. That same year, Professor Ulmer was labeled a "pioneer" by Nancy Maveety. In her edited book, The Pioneers of Judicial Behavior, Robert C. Bradley writes the following: "Because of the number of his publications and the extended time period over which they appeared, Ulmer continues to profoundly impact the judicial subfield. The breadth and quality of those publications - specifically those dealing with certiorari decisions, small-group theory, and microdecisional analysis - obviously enhance that impact. Ulmer's pioneering theoretical developments and methodological refinements still guide and stimulate others in their research efforts on the courts."

A Biography of S. Sidney Ulmer

S. Sidney Ulmer, a member of the American Political Science Association for over 50 years, retired from the University of Kentucky as an Alumni Professor in 1988. Ulmer earned his BA (Cum Laude) from Furman University in 1952 and was awarded an LLD from the same institution in 1979. After receiving his MA and PhD degrees from Duke University, he taught at Michigan State for seven years, serving as Department Chair in 1961-62. In 1963 he moved to the University of Kentucky as Department Chairman—a position he held for six years.

In a career spanning 32 years, Ulmer authored six books and over 75 articles or book chapters in the area of Constitutional Law and Judicial Behavior. He is a Past President of the Southern Political Science Association and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Politics, the Midwest Journal of Political Science, and the American Journal of Political Science. From 1963-1966 he was an Editorial Associate of the American Political Science Review. During that period his bibliographies of behaviorally oriented articles, from a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, appeared in each issue of the APSR.

While at Michigan State University, Ulmer participated in early discussions at the University of Michigan regarding the establishment of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). He served on the Executive Council of the Consortium for two years and chaired the Council in 1967-68. In 1984 Ulmer, at the request of Harold Spaeth, was the initial Chairman of the Board of Overseers for The United States Supreme Court Data Base Project, a position he held for three years. That database, earlier stored at the ICPSR and at Michigan State University, is now archived at the University of Kentucky as part of the S. Sidney Ulmer Project for Research in Law and Judicial Politics.