Dr. Richard L. Wiener received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Houston and studied law at the University of Nebraska/Lincoln (UNL) College of Law where he earned a Master’s Degree in Legal Studies. He is currently the Charles Bessey Professor of Psychology and Law at UNL where he served as the director of the Law and Psychology Program from 2002 until 2015. Dr. Wiener is the past editor of Law and Human Behavior, the official journal of the American Psychology/Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association) and formally the Secretary/Treasurer of the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI). Dr. Wiener serves as the research consultant for the Nebraska Administrative Office of Probation (NAOP) and also serves the Nebraska Judiciary as a Supreme Court appointee to the Committee on Problem SolvingCourts. Dr. Wiener is a research and evaluation consultant for Lancaster County, the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence. 

Professor Wiener studies the application of social and cognitive psychology to problems of legal decision-making with a focus on diversity and inclusion issues in the law. He also has wide expertise in applied research and program evaluation. He is the recipient of funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Dr. Wiener has published numerous research articles, edited volumes, book chapters and law review articles. Professor Wiener teaches courses at the graduate level and in the Law College at UNL. 

Dr. Wiener is best known and cited for his work in legal decision-making making, including judgments about sexual harassment, jury decision-making in capital murder, and emotion in the law. He has published numerous articles in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Law and Human Behavior, Sex Roles, Psychology Public Policy and the Law and the Journal of Experimental Psychology - Applied. 

In addition, he is the editor, co-editor, and major contributor to several books in the University of Nebraska Law and Psychology book series, which include:

•  “Social Consciousness in Legal Decision Making: Psychological Perspective” (2007)
• “Civil Juries And Civil Justice: Psychological And Legal Perspectives” (2008)
• “Mental Disorder and Criminal Law: Responsibility, Punishment and Competence” (2009)
• “Emotion and the Law”(2010)
• Problem Solving Courts (2012)
• Justice, Conflict and Wellbeing (2014)