Author, scholar Luis Fraga ’81 to present Sept. 22 President’s Lecture

Author, scholar and Rice alumnus Luis Ricardo Fraga ’81 will present “The Changing American Voter in 2016 and Beyond” at the Sept. 22 President’s Lecture. The talk will be at 8 p.m. in McMurtry Auditorium, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall. Admission is free, but seating is limited.

Luis Ricardo Fraga ’81

In this timely discussion, Fraga, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, will share his insights on the demographic changes affecting American politics and their impact on the 2016 presidential election, as well as what these changes mean for the future of American politics and society.

Fraga is the co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies and the Notre Dame Professor in Transformative Latino Leadership at Notre Dame. He is the author and co-author of five books and over three dozen academic articles and book chapters related to elections, Latino politics, voting rights, immigration policy and educational politics. He has published in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science and the Journal of Politics. He has received 15 awards for his teaching, mentoring and advising over his 30-year career as a scholar and professor.

In 2011 Fraga was named by President Barack Obama to serve on the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, where he co-chairs the postsecondary education subcommittee. Also in 2011, he was named one of the top “100 Influentials” in the country by Hispanic Business magazine. He has served as vice president, as secretary and as a member of the executive council of the American Political Science Association and also served as president of the Western Political Science Association. Fraga graduated from Harvard University in 1978 before coming to Rice University, where he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science in 1981 and 1984, respectively.

Each year, the President’s Lecture Series brings to the Rice campus a variety of stimulating speakers on a range of topics. Rice offers the President’s Lecture Series as a means of enhancing the intellectual life not only of the Rice community, but of our neighbors throughout the city of Houston. For more information, visit http://professor.rice.edu/professor/president-lecture-series.aspx.