Melissa R. Michelson,(PhD Yale University, 1994) is Dean of Arts & Sciences at Menlo College. She is past president of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Latino Caucus and of the APSA LGBT Caucus. She is the award-winning co-author of eight books, including Mobilizing Inclusion: Transforming the Electorate through Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns; Party at the Ballot Box: Mobilizing Black Women Voters, and a popular textbook on California Politics. She lives in California with her husband, with whom she has four sons.