About

Dr. Melissa R. Michelson is an accomplished teacher, scholar, and leader in her profession.

Originally from the island of Alameda, California, she now bicycles to work at Menlo College in Atherton, California, where she is Dean of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science. Dr. Michelson is also past president of the American Political Science Association Latino Caucus and of the American Political Science Association LGBT Caucus. She is a past visiting faculty fellow of the Stanford University Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and is currently chair of the Student Vote Research Network.

Dr. Michelson frequently speaks at public events and to the media, including a Menlo TedX talk in 2019. She is a frequent source for news stories about electoral politics, Latinx politics, LGBTQ politics, and California politics, including national outlets like the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as international media. She enjoys speaking to students outside of the classroom, including as a guest speaker in political science classes and to student audiences at the high school and college levels interested in how to be allies to the LGBTQ community.

Dr. Michelson is a nationally recognized expert in voter mobilization, Latinx politics, and LGBTQ politics. Her academic work is solidly based in activist scholarship. Whether the focus is on members of the Latinx, LGBTQ, or other marginalized groups, she uses her research to motivate greater equality and justice for all. Dr. Michelson went to graduate school to become a teacher and delights in leading classroom discussions, but also to write books that might make a difference, inspired by her undergraduate professor at Columbia University, Dr. Charles V. Hamilton. She went on to earn a PhD from Yale University and has since written seven books and dozens of journal articles and book chapters. She is the lead author of the textbook Governing California in the Twenty-First Century.

Dr. Michelson’s current projects include ongoing research on how best to motivate Black and Latinx citizens to vote, how drag performers can increase voter turnout, how to reduce prejudice against members of the LGBTQ community , and many other smaller projects. More than a quarter century after completing her PhD, she is still excited by new research ideas and eager to dive into new literatures to learn more.