San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran will be the guest of a “Fireside Chat: Women in Politics” from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, at Cal State San Bernardino.

The free program, open to the public, will take place in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences building, room SB-128.

The conversation will be led by Meredith Conroy, CSUSB professor of political science, a nationally recognized scholar on women in politics at the local, regional and national levels.

“I’m excited to welcome Mayor Tran and join Dr. Meredith Conroy in a dynamic conversation on women in politics – an opportunity to highlight the importance of representation, amplify women’s voices in leadership, and inspire the next generation to step forward and lead,” said Christina Hassija, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Tran became the first Asian American elected in San Bernardino and the first Vietnamese American woman elected mayor in the United States when she was sworn into office on Dec. 21, 2022, after city voters elected her the month before to a four-year term.

She is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants and grew up in San Bernardino, graduating from Cajon High School, before attending the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies in 2004. Tran worked for the city in its human resources department for 14 years and as its director for four years. From 2019 until she was sworn in as mayor, she worked for the city of West Covina as its director of human resources and risk management.

Conroy earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2010. Conroy has published articles in academic journals, such as Political Behavior, American Politics Research and Political Research Quarterly. Conroy’s first book, “Masculinity, Media, and the American Presidency,” published in 2015, assess the degree to which gendered discourse in presidential politics directly impacts the electoral fortunes of male candidates, and indirectly impacts female candidates. Her most recent book, “Who Runs? The Masculine Advantage in Candidate Emergence,” published in 2020, studies why and when men and women run for political office.

In addition, she was a politics contributor to the website 538, and now publishes “Gender Gap” on Substack. 

Women in Politics even flyer with photos of Meredith Conroy and SB Mayor Helen Tran.