Andra Gillespie, Ph.D.

angille@emory.edu


Associate Professor

Emory University

Year of PhD: 2005

Country: United States (Georgia)

About Me:

Andra Gillespie is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Government & Foreign Affairs and African American Studies from the University of Virginia, and her Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University. Before joining the faculty at Emory, she worked as an analyst for Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. Her research focuses on the political leadership of the post-civil rights generation and race and voting behavior. She has edited or written three books, including Whose Black Politics? Cases in Post-Racial Black Leadership (Routledge, 2010), The New Black Politician: Cory Booker, Newark and Post-Racial America, and Race and the Obama Administration: Substance, Symbols and Hope (Manchester University Press, 2019). In addition to her academic work, Gillespie provides regular commentary for local, national, and international news outlets, including Atlanta’s local ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, Telemundo and PBS affiliates, as well as CNN, NPR, MSNBC, CNBC Asia, PBS, Fox News, Bloomberg, Al-Jazeera (America and English) and the BBC.  Her editorials have been featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post, TheRoot.com, TheHill.com, TheConversation.us, PBSNewshour.org, The Huffington Post, Politico, and The New York Times’ Room for Debate. 

Research Interests

Elections, Election Administration, and Voting Behavior

Race, Ethnicity and Politics

Experimental Research

Religion & Politics

Countries of Interest

United States