Jessica Trounstine is the Foundation Board of Trustees Presidential Chair and a professor of political science at the University of California, Merced. She earned her PhD from the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of 19 peer-reviewed articles, six book chapters, and two award winning books, Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities (Cambridge University Press) and Political Monopolies in American Cities: The Rise and Fall of Bosses and Reformers (University of Chicago Press). Professor Trounstine’s work studies the process and quality of representation in American democracy. She is focused on the ways in which formal and informal local political institutions generate inequalities. Professor Trounstine has served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, city governments, and various community organizations; and serves on numerous editorial and foundation boards.