Kelly Lytle Hernández

Kelly Lytle Hernandez

Kelly Lytle Hernández

The Thomas E. Lifka Chair of History & African American Studies

Phone: (310) 825-3884

Email: hernandez@history.ucla.edu

Office: 6238 Bunche Hall

Biography

Kelly Lytle Hernández is a professor of History, African American Studies, and Urban Planning at UCLA where she holds The Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History. She is also the Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. One of the nation’s leading experts on race, immigration, and mass incarceration, she is the author of the award-winning books, Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol(University of California Press, 2010), and City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles(University of North Carolina Press, 2017). City of Inmates recently won the 2018 James Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians, 2018 Athearn Prize from the Western Historical Association, the 2018 John Hope Franklin Book Prize from the American Studies Association, and the 2018 American Book Award. Currently, Professor Lytle Hernández is the Director and Principal Investigator for Million Dollar Hoods, a university-based, community-drive research project that maps the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles. The Million Dollar Hoods team won a 2018 Freedom Now! Award from the Los Angeles Community Action Network. For her leadership on the Million Dollar Hoods team, Professor Lytle Hernández was awarded the 2018 Local Hero Award from KCET/PBS and the 2019 Catalyst Award from the South L.A. parent/student advocacy organization, CADRE. In 2019, Professor Lytle Hernández was named a James D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow for her historical and contemporary work.

For speaking requests, please contact Rolisa Tutwyler at CCMNT Speakers Bureau at info@ccmntspeakers.com

For media requests, please contact Jessica Wolf (UCLA Media Relations) at jwolf@stratcomm.ucla.edu

Publications

Awards, Honors, & Fellowships

  • 2010 Clements Prize for Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol
  • Honorable Mention, 2011 Lora Romero First Book Prize, American Studies Association
  • Honorable Mention, 2011 John Hope Franklin Book Prize, American Studies Association
  • Finalist, 2011 First Book Prize from the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians
  • 2007 Oscar O. Winther Award for the best article to appear in the Western Historical Quarterly.
  • 2007 Bolton-Kinnaird Award for best article on the Spanish borderlands.