Richard Pacelle is professor and department head in Political Science at the University of Tennessee.  Richard Pacelle earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut and PhD degree in political science at the Ohio State University and held faculty positions at Indiana University and University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Georgia Southern University in as professor and chair of the department before coming to UT. Pacelle’s primary research focus is the Supreme Court. His research includes concerns with policy evolution and the role of policy entrepreneurs in the judiciary, Supreme Court agenda building and decision-making, and inter-branch relations. His publications include five books and dozens of articles and chapters in edited volumes.  Most notably, he has written about the Supreme Court’s agenda and the work of the Solicitor General. His work on decision making is highlighted by Decision Making by the Modern Supreme Court was published by Cambridge University Press in 2011.  His fifth book, The Supreme Court in a Separation of Powers System: The Nation’s Balance Wheel was published in 2015. He has won numerous teaching awards including the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching and the Governor’s Award for Teaching in 2000. While at Georgia Southern, Pacelle garnered the University Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship and the CLASS Award for Distinction in Scholarship.