Kim Yi Dionne

Kim Yi Dionne is an Associate Professor of Political Science at UC Riverside. Her research examines health interventions, politics, and public opinion—primarily in African countries. She received her Ph.D. in political science at UCLA, where she was a Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) fellow in Kiswahili/African Studies. From 2008-2009, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Malawi. Before coming to UC Riverside, she held academic appointments at Smith College and Texas A&M University.

She is a contributing editor to The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post and the co-host Ufahamu Africa, a podcast about life and politics on the continent.

In 2018, Cambridge University Press published her book, Doomed Interventions: The Failure of Global Responses to AIDS in Africa.

Research Areas

• Comparative Politics
• African Studies
• African Politics
• Health Inequities
• Political Behavior
• LGBTQ
• HIV/AIDS

Companies

• Associate Professor University of California, Riverside (2020)
• Board Member Development Gateway (2018)
• Founder, Producer, and Host Ufahamu Africa (2017)
• Editor The Monkey Cage (2014)
• Assistant Professor University of California, Riverside (2018 — 2020)
• Five College Assistant Professor of Government Smith College (2013 — 2018)
• Assistant Professor, Political Science Texas A&M University (2010 — 2013)
• Fulbright Fellow Malawi (2008 — 2009)
• Associate Director, MBA Admissions UCLA Anderson School of Management (1999 — 2003)

Education

• PhD University of California, Los Angeles (2003 — 2010)
• BA University of California, Los Angeles (1995 — 1999)
• Atwater High