Most people interact with federal regulations every day through the food they eat, the air they breathe, the medications they take and the rules that shape workplaces and public safety. Yet few stop to consider how those rules are created or who has the authority to enforce them.
For Gwendolyn Savitz, associate professor of law and associate dean for faculty research and intellectual life at The University of Tulsa’s College of Law, that gap in understanding has become central to her work.
Savitz specializes in and teaches administrative law, the field that governs how federal agencies operate and make decisions. Her scholarship examines how agencies use interpretive rules, guidance and adjudication to exercise regulatory authority and how deference and judicial review shape agency accountability. While the subject can seem technical, Savitz views it as foundational to understanding how modern government functions.
That perspective is shaped in part by her own career path. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, her Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law and her Master of Laws from Yale Law School. Before entering academia, she practiced food and drug law and served as a judicial clerk on the Third Circuit.
At UTulsa Law, Savitz balances teaching, research and leadership. She plays a central role in supporting faculty scholarship and intellectual life across the college. Her work as associate dean includes organizing faculty workshops, coordinating visiting speakers and named lectures and creating collaboration opportunities within the law school and among peer institutions. She is also involved in student-facing academic initiatives, including the Tulsa Law Review.
In recent years, Savitz has taken her commitment to public understanding beyond the classroom to “Administrative Remedies,” a podcast she co-hosts with UTulsa Law Interim Dean Marc Roark. The podcast grew out of a shared concern that administrative law is often discussed without sufficient context, leaving legal professionals and the public unclear about how agency power works.
Rather than focusing on legal debates or policy advocacy, “Administrative Remedies” aims to explain systems. Episodes use plain language, real-world examples and regulatory documents to walk listeners through how agencies make rules, resolve disputes and exercise delegated authority. The goal is not to persuade, but to inform, helping listeners understand the structures that quietly shape public life.
Beginning this fall, she will use “Administrative Remedies” episodes as a supplemental learning tool in her administrative law courses, allowing UTulsa students to engage with foundational concepts before class and spend more time applying them during discussions. The podcast is designed to be evergreen, making it adaptable for repeated classroom use and accessible to students at different stages of legal training.
For Savitz, the podcast reflects the same philosophy that guides her teaching and scholarship – legal systems should be understandable to the people they affect, and administrative law affects everyone. Whether supporting faculty research, mentoring students or explaining federal bureaucracy to a broader audience, her work centers on clarity, access and education, bringing often unseen parts of government into clearer view.