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Mark Hugo Lopez

Director, Race and Ethnicity Research

Expertise:Global Migration and Demography, Hispanic Trends, Race and Ethnicity

Mark Hugo Lopez is director of race and ethnicity research at Pew Research Center, where he leads planning of the Center’s research agenda focused on chronicling the diverse, ever-changing racial and ethnic landscape of the United States. He is an expert on issues of racial and ethnic identity, Latino politics and culture, the U.S. Hispanic and Asian American populations, global and domestic immigration, and the U.S. demographic landscape. Lopez was previously the Center’s director of Global Migration and Demography, and of Hispanic research.

Lopez is the co-editor of “Adjusting to a World in Motion: Trends in Global Migration and Migration Policy.” He is a co-author of “The Future of the First Amendment” and has contributed chapters to several books about voting and young Latinos.

Prior to joining Pew Research Center, Lopez served as a research assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy and as research director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

Lopez received his doctorate in economics from Princeton University. He is an author of reports about the Hispanic electorate, Hispanic identity and immigration. Lopez frequently appears in national and international media in both Spanish and English.

Publications

  • report

    Mapping the Latino Population, By State, County and City

    I. Overview The nation’s Hispanic population, while still anchored in its traditional settlement areas, continues to disperse across the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Today, the 100 largest counties by Hispanic population contain 71% of all Hispanics. Los Angeles County, CA alone contains 4.9 million Hispanics, or […]

  • short reads

    What Univision’s milestone says about U.S. demographics

    Spanish-language television reached a new milestone in America. Univision finished first among broadcast networks during July sweeps in two highly sought-after demographics: 18- to 49-year-olds and 18- to 34-year-olds. According to Nielsen, between June 27, 2013, and July 24, 2013, Univision averaged 1.8 million viewers ages 18 to 49 nightly, beating out English-language networks FOX, […]

  • short reads

    Are unauthorized immigrants overwhelmingly Democrats?

    Will there be “an electoral bonanza for Democrats” if the nation’s estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants are eventually granted the right to vote? The data provide some insights.

  • short reads

    If they could, how many unauthorized immigrants would become U.S. citizens?

    As Congress debates a comprehensive immigration bill, one key element under consideration is whether to offer a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants. If a bill were to pass including such a provision, how many would take advantage of the opportunity? The answer is of course speculative. The Pew Hispanic […]

  • report

    Diverse Origins: The Nation’s 14 Largest Hispanic-Origin Groups

    Overview The nation’s Latino population is diverse. Represented among the 51.9 million Latinos in the United States are individuals who trace their heritage to more than 20 Spanish-speaking nations worldwide. But one group—Mexicans—dominates the nation’s Latino population. In 2011, nearly two-thirds (64.6%) of U.S. Hispanics, or 33.5 million, traced their family origins to Mexico, according […]

  • short reads

    Latinos’ changing views of same-sex marriage

    Latinos’ views of same-sex marriage have changed dramatically in recent years. In 2012 for the first time, more Latinos said they favored same-sex marriage than opposed it (52% versus 34%) according to Pew Hispanic Center surveys.

  • short reads

    LGBT voices that shaped our study

    Before we launched our first major effort to capture the views and opinions of LGBT adults for our series ‘LGBT in Changing Times,’ we convened a focus group to help inform our approach. In March 2013, we assembled 12 LGBT adults from the Washington, D.C. area: five gay men, three transgender adults, two bisexual men […]