Baodong Liu is a nationally recognized expert on race, voting rights and U.S. elections. He provided key expert witness testimony in court hearings on the state of Alabama’s redistricting map, testimony that made its way into a subsequent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that found the map unconstitutional. Liu also provided his expert opinions and/or performed empirical analyses for other federal voting rights cases as well as a landmark Utah case, Navajo Nation, et al, vs. San Juan County, et al.

He has given numerous presentations to community and non-profit advocacy groups and helped train several groups on quantitative analysis of racially polarized voting. Liu has provided research services to such entities as the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Science Foundation and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Liu is quoted in media locally and nationally on elections and voter behavior and is the founder of easystates.com, a free website that allows users to search and analyze political data from all U.S. states.

Liu has received numerous awards and recognitions for his scholarship and service, including the Byran Jackson Award for Best Research on Race and Ethnicity (American Political Science Association, 1999); Ted Robinson Award for the Best Research in Race and Ethnicity (Southwestern Political Science Association, 1999); Artinian Award for Professional Development (Southern Political Science Association, 2004); and the Showcase of Extraordinary Faculty Achievements (2016). He also was a nominee for the Career & Professional Development Center’s Faculty Recognition Program and a two-time nominee for the College of Social and Behavioral Science’s Superior Research Award (2011, 2012).