• Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis 2009, Political Science
• A.M., Washington University in St. Louis 2006, Political Science
• J.D., Wake Forest University 2004, Law
• B.A., University of Florida 2001, Political Science

Dr. Boyd’s work includes projects finding that female judges in U.S. courts of appeals and federal district courts influence the voting behavior of and manage cases differently from their male colleagues. In addition, her research on federal trial courts reveals new insight into the way that civil litigants craft their lawsuits and how they use courts to help them settle their disputes prior to trial. Professor Boyd’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and has appeared in leading political science and law journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, Northwestern University Law Review, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, and Law & Society Review. Professor Boyd’s research has been discussed in media outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, and National Public Radio.

• Judges and judicial politics
• Law and politics
• Empirical legal studies
• Law and Economics
• Trial courts
• Litigation
• Settlement
• U.S. Supreme Court
• Gender and judging
• Administrative law

• Lisa Hertel Memorial Political Science Teaching Award, University at Buffalo, SUNY, 2012-2013.

• 2008 Pi Sigma Alpha Award for the best paper delivered at the 2007 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association for “Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging.”

• Association of Women Faculty of Washington University 2007-2008 Graduate Student Award

• Antoinette Dames Prize for Outstanding Graduate Level Class Paper, 2008. Department of Political Science, Washington University.

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable Mention (2006)

National Science Foundation Grant SES-1626932. Principal Investigator. “How Social Security Administration Appeals Fare in the Federal Trial Courts.” Law and Social Sciences and Science of Organizations Programs. 2016-2019. (Co-Principal Investigators Scott H. Ainsworth and Michael S. Lynch).

Faculty Research Grant in the Sciences. “Policy Making in the Federal District Courts.” University of Georgia Research Foundation.

Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy, Annual Research Grant, University at Buffalo, SUNY. 2012-2013; 2011-2012; 2010-2011; 2009-2010.

National Science Foundation Grant SES-0818751. “Doctoral Dissertation Research: Placing Federal District Courts in the Judicial Hierarchy.” 2008.