larriola@berkeley.edu

Leonardo R. Arriola is currently Dean of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts at University of California, Merced. As a political scientist, he studies the challenges associated with representation and governance in multiethnic societies. He focuses on inter-ethnic political cooperation, political violence in divided societies, and strategies of human rights advocacy. His award-winning research has been published in outlets such as the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and Journal of Politics along with books published by Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. His work has been funded by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Research Council of Norway, Carnegie Corporation of New York, U.S. Department of Defense, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP). He is an associated senior researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Norway. He is a past recipient of the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Award from Berkeley’s Graduate Division and the Graduate Council of the Academic Senate. He was the recipient of the 2023 Graduate Student Mentorship Award from Berkeley's Political Science Department as well as the 2024 Beatriz Manz Award for scholarship, teaching, and service from Berkeley's College of Letters & Science.

Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Sub Saharan Africa, Democracy, Elections, Institutions, Ethnicity, Government/Governance