House Speaker

Gary M. Owen

First elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1973, Mr. Owen served for 16 years as a legislator. He was the first-ever freshman lawmaker to join the House Appropriations Committee and sat on that panel for 10 years. He served six years as Associate Speaker Pro Tem before being elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1983 – a position he held through 1988.

He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and holds honorary doctorates from Northern Michigan University in political science and Cleary College in law.

Interviewed by Lynn Jondahl
77 minutes, October 17, 2008