Mary R. Rose received an A.B. in Psychology from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Duke University. Since 2002, she has been with the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is currently Professor of Sociology and where she also directs the Human Dimensions of Organizations (HDO) BA & MA programs. She is also an Affiliated Scholar with the American Bar Foundation.

At UT, Rose teaches a variety of courses on social science and law, on social psychology, and research methods. Her research examines lay participation in the legal system, and she has written on a variety of topics including the effects of jury selection practices on jury representativeness, citizens’ views of justice, jury trial innovations, civil damage awards, the death penalty, and public views of court practices. Her research has been cited in U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding peremptory challenges (Miller-el v. Dretke, Breyer, J., concurring), punitive damages (Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker), and jury unanimity (Ramos v. Louisiana). She is currently on the editorial boards of Law & Society Review, Law & Human Behavior, and Social Psychology Quarterly.

Like many, Rose considers the Law & Society Association her primary intellectual home and has served the organization through work on the student awards committee, the dissertation prize committee, the program committee, two ad hoc committees (on Annual Meeting Innovation and on CRNs), she has organized the Early Career workshop (together with Laura Beth Nielsen) and has served as a Trustee. With Valerie Hans and Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich, she has overseen the CRN on Lay Participation in Legal Decision Making (CRN04) since its inception and believes strongly that LSA can have a strong CRN system while also maintaining an organization-wide identity.