Professor Liu received his Bachelor of Laws from the East China University of Politics and Law in 1987, his Master in Political Science degree from Oklahoma State University in 1995, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of New Orleans in 1999. His dissertation, Black Candidates, White Voters and Racial Context, won Byran Jackson Award from Urban Politics Section of American Political Science Association, and Ted Robinson Award for the best research in race and ethnicity from the Southwestern Political Science Association.
Professor Baodong Liu's main research/teaching areas include urban and racial/ethnic politics, political methodology, economic development, and voting and elections. Professor Liu has published two books, 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, and numerous book chapter/reviews, columns, grant reports, and proceedings. His academic work has been published in America, Europe, and Asia. His book, Race Rules: Electoral Politics in New Orleans, 1965-2006, coauthored with James Vanderleeuw, was published by Rowman and Littlefield/Lexington Books in 2007. His peer-reviewed articles have appeared in such professional journals as Social Science Quarterly, American Politics Research, Sociological Methods and Research, PS: Political Science and Politics, Urban Affairs Review, American Review of Politics, Journal of Urban Affairs, Political Behavior, and Southeastern Political Review, among others.
Professor Liu has also served as an expert witness for several federal voting rights cases. His applied research/grants have included analyses of economic development, racial voting patterns, public school science education, school districts' economic impact, and various citizen surveys. Dr. Liu has provided his expertise to NAACP, the US Department of Justice, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington D.C., Wisconsin Security Research Consortium, Fond du Lac School District, Johnson Controls, Inc, City of Waupaca (WI), the League of Women Voters, American Democracy Project, Wisconsin Public Service, and many media outlets.
Currently a member of editorial board for Urban Affairs Review, Professor Liu also serves as the editor of Urban News for the American Political Science Association's Urban Politics Section, and he was elected as a co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus of the American Political Science Association (2004-2006), as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Wisconsin International School in 2008 and the President of Northeast Wisconsin Chinese Association in 2007.