Yanan Li is a Visiting Lecturer at the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is an expert in social inequality and housing, with broader research interests in social mobility, community development, and urban planning.

Li teaches graduate-level courses in research design and has also taught quantitative methods, public policy foundations, and urbanization at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research has examined issues such as affordable housing and community structure, and her work has been supported by fellowships and grants from Rutgers University. She holds a Ph.D. in public affairs and community development from Rutgers University–Camden.