Stephen Wilks is a Visiting Professor at the Michigan State University College of Law. He is also a tenured member of the faculty at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. His cross-disciplinary research interests explore themes of governance and regulation within transactional spaces. He has examined government use of private payment networks to facilitate various forms of financial surveillance; the role of transnational networks in harmonizing critical segments of the world’s financial system; and the politicization of migrant remittance flows between developed and developing economies.

Wilks practiced law and gained his initial teaching experience in Canada. He holds a B.A. in history and a J.D. from Queen’s University; an M.S.W. from the University of Toronto; and an LL.M. and Ph.D. from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School. His doctoral dissertation, titled, Swimming in the Crosscurrents: Rethinking the Dynamics of Remittance Regulation Within the Regulatory Dialectic of Networked Global Governance, examined the politicization of regulating migrant remittances. During his studies at Osgoode Hall, he was awarded the Harry Arthurs Fellowship (2008), the Willard Estey Teaching Fellowship (2009-2010) and the Nathanson Fellowship (2010). His publication record includes a dozen manuscripts – consisting mostly of law review articles and peer-reviewed book chapters. He also has a number of works in progress, including a paper that explores the regulation of social media platforms. In 2022, Wilks was awarded the James T. Barnes Sr. Memorial Faculty Scholar Award for excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.