Breanna C. Gray is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in 2022. Dr. Gray’s research focuses on the U.S. Congress, the House Committee on Rules, special House rules, and the ways in which contemporary changes in Congress affect public policy outcomes on the House Floor—particularly for communities of color.

During her doctoral studies, Dr. Gray earned a Certificate in Teaching and Learning from UPenn’s Center for Teaching and Learning, a Certificate in the Empirical Implications for Theoretical Models from the Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan, and she was awarded the School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Research Award. Dr. Gray was also selected for a fellowship during her doctoral studies at the Congressional Research Service (2018 and 2019) in the Library of Congress and was awarded the Saundra K. Schneider Scholarship to attend the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Summer Program at the University of Michigan.

After earning her Ph.D., Dr. Gray was selected for the Article One Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the John W. Kluge Center housed in the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill.  During this fellowship, Dr. Gray expanded her original Congressional Special Rules Data Project research by documenting her conversations with House members and their respective staffs regarding the role and impact of special rules in the modern U.S. Congress and through her regular attendance at House Rules Committee hearings and meetings. Dr. Gray’s work was recently featured in the University College London’s Centre on U.S. Politics Working Paper Series. Dr. Gray is also working on a book project, Legislating With Privilege: The Power and Influence of Special Rules in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dr. Gray earned her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Foreign Affairs and French from the University of Virginia (UVA). She also earned her Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) from UVA through the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Gray was a Congressional Liaison and an International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.