Luis Ricardo Fraga

Luis Ricardo Fraga is the Rev. Donald P. McNeill, C.S.C., Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership and Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, where he also serves as Director of the Institute for Latino Studies. His scholarship focuses on American politics with specialization in Latino political behavior, voting rights, immigration policy, and urban politics.

Dr. Fraga earned his A.B. cum laude from Harvard University and completed his M.A. and Ph.D. at Rice University.

His research examines how race, ethnicity, and immigration status shape political participation and policy outcomes. Fraga's work on Latino voting behavior reveals strategic political incorporation patterns, while his voting rights research analyzes both historical developments and contemporary suppression tactics. He investigates educational equity through the lens of Latino access to Catholic schools and broader K-12 systems.

Fraga's recent publications demonstrate sustained engagement with voting rights jurisprudence and Latino political identity formation. His 2023 work on voter suppression connects historical disenfranchisement tactics to modern election laws, while his analysis of the 1975 Voting Rights Act expansion highlights language access provisions. The consistent thread across his scholarship is the intersection of legal frameworks and minority political empowerment.

Dr. Fraga has received significant recognition for his contributions:

• Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in Community Service Award from MALDEF (2018)
• Norton Long Career Achievement Award from APSA (2019)
• Stanford Center for Advanced Study Fellowship
• Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship
• Hispanic Business magazine "100 Influentials" (2011)

As an educator, Fraga has mentored generations of scholars and practitioners, receiving multiple awards for advising excellence. His policy impact extends through congressional testimony on voting rights and service on President Obama's Advisory Commission for Hispanic Educational Excellence, where he co-chaired the postsecondary subcommittee.

Leading Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies, Fraga oversees interdisciplinary research on Latino communities while fostering partnerships with the Institute for Educational Initiatives to examine educational access and outcomes for Latino populations across institutional contexts.