Liang Cai, PH.D.

Dr. Liang Cai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and a faculty affiliate of the School of Data Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago in 2026. 

His research examines the patterns, causes, and consequences of human mobility, spatial disadvantage, and human-environment interactions, particularly as they relate to crime. His work has appeared in Social Forces, Demography, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Gerontology Series B: Social Sciences, Health & Place, Annual Review of Sociology, Social Problems, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Cities, Crime & Delinquency, and Scientific Data, among other journals.

Personal Website: liang-cai.org