CAMPUS NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
03/14/01

Point Man, Mentor: Edward Owens, M.S., D.C., Leads Sherman College Research Agenda

MARCH 14, 2001 - Ed Owens was probably one of those kids who took the family television set apart or rebuilt the toaster. He’s the kind of guy who wants to know how things work. He’s had a long-standing interest in understanding more about how the body works.

Owens earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering science and mechanics from Georgia Tech where he studied topics such as structural engineering, fluid flow and material properties. Unlike most application-based engineering programs, Owens’ track had a more academic focus, exploring the mathematics behind the engineering and training people to be researchers. What appealed to him most throughout the program, though, was the field of biomechanics.

So, fresh out of an engineering graduate program, he enrolled in chiropractic college at Life University to gain a better understanding of human biology and physiology. He didn’t really plan to practice, but wanted to complete the program as a way of furthering his understanding of the function of the human body. He planned to return to Georgia Tech to complete a Ph.D. and establish a career as a biomechanical researcher, exploring such topics as muscle tone, posture and balance. Along the way, though, he got hooked on chiropractic philosophy and realized he had an aptitude and was developing sound skills for adjusting people. While a student, he started working as a research assistant at Life and later was appointed to the professional staff and faculty.

After graduation he practiced part time and continued working in research at Life conducting computer modeling and animations. In 1995 he took over as editor of the Chiropractic Research Journal. He joined Sherman College as director of research in 1998.

“In many schools the research department is separate from the faculty, and there isn’t much interaction between the two. The researchers don’t teach and the instructors don’t do research,” Owens said. “I think the balance we have at Sherman College is intellectually stimulating. I think it also explains our high level of productivity in research - we are thinking about it as a whole organization,” he said. It is rewarding to partner with faculty to develop their ideas into workable research projects and to support them with data analysis. We also see students initiating ideas and bringing faculty into the research loop that way."
 

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