Irene Bloemraad est professeure de sociologie et titulaire de la Chaire Thomas Garden Barnes d'études canadiennes à l'Université de Californie, Berkeley. Elle est également chercheuse à l'Institut canadien de recherches avancées et directrice du Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative. Diplômée des écoles publiques de Saskatoon, elle a reçu un BA (Science politique) et MA (sociologie) de l'Université McGill et son doctorat (Sociologie) de l'Université Harvard.

À travers de sa recherche, elle examine l'immigration et la politique en mettant l'accent sur la citoyenneté, la participation politique et civique des immigrants, et le multiculturalisme. Ses recherches ont été publiées dans des revues diverses couvrant les domaines de la sociologie, la science politique, l’histoire et les études ethniques. Elle est l'auteur ou la rédactrice de cinq livres, inclus Oxford Handbook of Citizenship (2017), Rallying for Immigrant Rights (2011), Civic Hopes and Political Realities (2008) et Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (2006).  Ce dernier a remporté une mention honorable pour le meilleur livre de la section « Migrations internationales » de l’American Sociological Association.

Professeure Bloemraad vise l'excellence dans la recherche autant que dans l'enseignement. En 2012, elle a été honorée avec le prix d'enseignement en sciences sociales et en 2008 elle a reçu le prix Sarlo pour son travail avec les étudiants des cycles supérieurs de l’Université de Californie, Berkeley. Bloemraad parle régulièrement de ​​l'immigration en dehors du milieu universitaire, que ce soit à des enfants de 10 ans ou à des retraités.

Irene Bloemraad is the founding director of Berkeley’s Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI) and the Class of 1951 Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Bloemraad studies how migrants become incorporated into the political communities where they live, and the consequences of migration for politics and understandings of membership. She has investigated why immigrants become citizens, whether immigrant communities face inequities in building and accessing community-based organizations, and how non-immigrants’ attitudes about immigration policy shifts depending on whether we talk about human rights, citizenship, family unity, or appeals to national values. Her research has been published in academic journals spanning sociology, political science, history, and ethnic/ migration studies, and she has authored or co-edited five books, including The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship (2017), Rallying for Immigrant Rights (2011) and Becoming a Citizen (2006). The International Migration Review, the top North American migration journal, named Bloemraad its “Featured Scholar of 2018.” In 2014-15, she served as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel reporting on the integration of immigrants into U.S. society.

Bloemraad’s research spans North America and Western Europe. She has a special interest in comparative U.S.-Canada analysis. She also holds the Thomas Garden Barnes Chair of Canadian Studies at UC-Berkeley and co-directs the Toronto-based Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s “Boundaries, Membership and Belonging” program. A proud product of the Saskatoon public school system, she received her B.A. (Political Science) and M.A. (Sociology) from McGill University and her Ph.D. (Sociology) from Harvard University.

Bloemraad is a strong proponent of the University of California’s public mission and believes that excellence in research and teaching go hand-in-hand. She has been honored with the University of California, Berkeley’s American Cultures Innovation in Teaching Prize (2013), the Division of Social Sciences’ Distinguished Teaching Award (2012), and the Sarlo Distinguished Mentoring Award (2008) for her work with graduate students. Bloemraad regularly shares her work with policymakers and immigration stakeholders and talks about immigration with journalists and the general public.