Mamadou Bodian holds a PhD in political science from the University of Florida. He is a member of the Sahel Research Group (SRG) and the Project Coordinator for the Trans-Saharan Elections Programme (TSEP) at the University of Florida. He is also Mali Expert and Analyst for Freedom House. He previously earned a Master and a Diplôme d'études approfondies (DEA) in sociology from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (Senegal). He published several works on Islam and education in the Sahel. His current research focuses on a comparative examination of elections, democracy, and foreign policy in the Sahel, with special attention to Senegal, Mali and Niger. He was a Senior Researcher in the Project Office “Islam Research Programme” at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Senegal, a project sponsored by Leiden University and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.