Walton published dozens of books and more than 100 journal articles or book chapters, investigating topics like African-American political participation and representation, Black conservatism, political parties in the United States, and the American presidency.
[1] Walton attended Morehouse College as an undergraduate, earning his AB degree in 1963.
[2] At the University of Michigan, Walton was affiliated both with the political science department and the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies.
Walton was elected to prominent service positions in the discipline, serving as the Vice President of the American Political Science Association from 2012 until 2013.
[18] Walton's contributions have also been honored by the establishment of endowments in his name to fund the study of race and politics.
[12][20] At the time of Walton's death, then-Director of the University of Michigan Center for Political Studies, Nancy Burns, said that "Hanes Walton transformed a field" through "his books on black politics", as well as by being "a key mentor to generations of scholars in the field".