Daniel Liou

Daniel D. Liou (he/him) is an associate professor of education leadership at Arizona State University. As a community-based researcher and former school board president, Liou’s scholarship explores the sociological manifestations of expectations in the organization of classrooms, schools, and society, contextualizing educational practices in relational, curricular and institutional terms. Liou is also co-editor for the influential and highly cited Review of Educational Research, and serves on the editorial board for the International Journal of Critical Media Literacy, and the SoJo Journal: Social and Cultural Foundations of Education.

Liou has published 86 academic journal articles, book chapters, and other public-facing scholarship. His research has appeared in leading journals such as Educational Administration Quarterly, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Journal of Teacher Education, Teachers College Record, Race Ethnicity and Education, and Urban Education. 

In 2015, he was awarded the Social Justice Teaching Award in Educational Leadership from American Educational Research Association. The Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation has recognized him for several awards including the 2017 Outstanding Promising Research Scholar, the 2023 Professor of Impact Award, and the 2025-2026 Excellence in the Scholarship of Engagement Award. 

Liou has more than 30 years of experience holding various leadership and academic positions in PK-12 and higher education. He began his career as a middle school youth counselor at the San Francisco Community Youth Center. In 1996, Liou was recognized by the Berkeley Unified School District for his advocacy work with immigrant students and families, and in 1997 Berkeley High School presented him with the Excellence Service Award for building an effective family-school engagement program with the bilingual community. He twice received the Most Inspirational Award from the University of California at Berkeley for creating a high school outreach program that paired undergraduate mentors with first-generation, immigrant, and refugee students to support their college-going expectations. 

To enhance ASU's mission of local impact and social embeddedness, from 2015-2020, Liou served as an appointed member of the Equitable and Inclusive Practices Advisory Council at the Arizona Department of Education, which resulted in the development of the state's first culturally inclusive teaching guidelines. Liou was elected to the Los Angeles College Prep Academy School Board from 2020-2024, with the last three years serving as board president.