Maureen Casey Owens was the 18th President of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners. |
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Ms. Owens began her career in questioned document examination at the Chicago Police Department laboratory where she trained under David Purtell.
She worked at the Chicago laboratory for 25 years, including 13 years as the chief document examiner. In 1987, while still working for the Chicago Police Department, she began a private practice. |
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Maureen moved her private practice to Wilmington, North Carolina in the 1990's.
She is a Life Member of the ASQDE, and a Retired Fellow and Past President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). She is the only person to ever simultaneously hold the presidency of the ASQDE and the AAFS. She is a Past Chair of the Questioned Document Section of the AAFS. In 1987, Ms. Owens received the Ordway Hilton Award, given by the AAFS Questioned Document Section. She was a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners and served as a Director of the ABFDE. On August 20, 2008, she received the Albert S. Osborn Award of Excellence in recognition of her distinguished career and her many contributions to both the ASQDE and the profession of forensic document examination. Among Ms. Owens' many cases, her examinations identified the anonymous writer of the novel Primary Colors and demonstrated that the purported diary of Jack the Ripper was not authentic. She is the author of numerous published articles and professional papers, including "IBM Correcting Selectric Typewriter: An Analysis of the Utilization of the Correctable Film Ribbon in the Alteration of Typewritten Documents," Journal of Forensic Sciences, 1976. |
