Valeria Sinclair-Chapman is associate professor of political science and College of Liberal Arts University Scholar at Purdue University. She is director of the Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion and facilitator for the ADVANCE-Purdue Diversity Catalyst Program, an NSF-funded project to increase the numbers of women of color and women more generally in STEM fields at Purdue.  Sinclair-Chapman is author, with Fredrick Harris and Brian D. Mc Kenzie, of Countervailing Forces in African-American Political Activism, 1973-1994(Cambridge University Press, 2006), winner of the 2007 Ralph Bunche Book Award presented by the American Political Science Association and the 2007 W. E. B. DuBois Book Award presented by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.  She is author or coauthor of several book chapters, as well as articles in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Journal of Politics, Electoral Studies, Political Research Quarterly, PS:  Political Science and Politics, and Politics, Groups, and Identities. Sinclair-Chapman is a former Ford Fellow, as well as a recipient of the Women’s Research and Education (WREI) Congressional Fellowship.  She has demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion in higher education and has received multiple awards for contributions to student life.

Sinclair-Chapman is an active member of the American Political Science Association, the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, the Midwest Political Science Association, the Western Political Science Association, and the Southern Political Science Association.  She is former co-president of APSA’s Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section, a member of APSA’s Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession, and past president of SPSA’s Women’s Caucus of the South.She has served on the council of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and currently serves on the council of the Midwest Political Science Association.She has served on numerous award committees, including the Leon Weaver Award for APSA’s Electoral Systems Section, MPSA’s Lucius Barker Award, and as chair of NCOBPS’s DuBois Book Award committee. In January 2016, Sinclair-Chapman was named co-Lead Editor of Politics, Groups, and Identities, a journal of the Western Political Science Association. 

Statement of Views:  

The American Political Science Association is the premiere association of political scientists worldwide.  As a member of the Council, I will work to ensure that the association lives up to its promise and responsibility to advance the scholarship and careers of members across the discipline in diverse institutions, from diverse backgrounds, and with diverse methodological approaches.