10 Contemporary Black Professors and Academics Making Waves

In 2017, the National Center of Education Statistics reported that only 6% of university and college professors were Black, compared to 14% of their students. While this number is strikingly low and speaks to the lack of access and representation of black communities in higher education, as we celebrate Black History Month in the United States, we wanted to take a moment to highlight a few of the incredibly inspiring Black professors on university campuses today. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous other inspiring Black professors who could have made this list. This is simply a lens into a few of the many incredible contemporary Black professors and academics in the United States.

1. Dr. Eve Higginbotham

Dr. Eve Higginbotham is the current Vice-Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She has three decades of experience in academia. She has her BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. In 1994, she was named the Chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department at the University of Maryland's school of medicine. She was the first woman to head a university-based ophthalmology department in the entire United States and is a current professor of Opthalmology at UPenn.

2. Johnetta B. Cole

Dr. Cole served as president of both Spelman and Bennett College for Women, two historically Black colleges for women. When she was appointed in 1983 as President of Spelman, she was the first Black American to hold this position. Dr. Cole taught at numerous institutions including Washington State University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Hunter College, Emory, and more. From 2002-2007, Dr. Cole served as president at Bennett College, the only other HBCU dedicated to educating Black women. After retiring in 2007, she continued to serve as chair of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute in Atlanta. She currently serves as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. Dr. Cole holds over 50 honorary degrees.

3. Marcia Chatelain

Dr. Marcia Chatelain is a professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University. She teaches courses specifically on African American life and culture. She is well known for encouraging educators in the US to teach their students about the Ferguson crisis. She is the author of FRANCHISE: THE GOLDEN ARCHES IN BLACK AMERICA, which is named as Smithsonian Scholars’ top books of 2020, in addition to her first published book, South Side Girls. She currently teaches courses in African American life and culture at Georgetown. When she isn’t teaching, she speaks to audiences about racism, universities and the history of slavery, and activism.

4. Gabrielle Starr

Dr. Starr is the current president of Pomona College. She is the first woman and African-American to hold this position. Dr. Starr was the former Seryl Kushner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at New York University. Dr. Starr has done extensive research on the correlation between the brain and art and holds awards and fellowships from more than 15 universities.

5. Cornel R. West

Professor Cornel West has a history of teaching at some of the top US universities including Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. Dr. West currently serves as a professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and is the Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He is one of the most prominent voices in Black academia, spoken word, activism, and more. He has written 20 books, edited 13, and appeared in over 25 documentaries and films. He has collaborated with music superstars such as Prince, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, and more.

6. Henry Louis Gates

Henry Louis Gates is a university professor and director for Hutchin’s Center for African & African American Research at Harvard. He is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, journalist, scholar, author, and so much more. He wrote, produced, and hosted 6-part PBS docuseries “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross”. He is the recipient of 58 honorary degrees and many prized. In 1988, he was the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal. He has directed the Hutchins Center since arriving at Harvard in 1992.

7. Angela Onwuachi-Willig

Angela Onwuachi-Willig is dean and professor of law at Boston University School of Law. She is an expert in critical race theory, employment discrimination, and family law. She is the author of According to Our Hearts: Rhineleader v. Rhinerleader and the Law of the Multiracial Family. She is published in multiple national law journals. She has received numerous awards including the Association of American Law School Clyde Ferguson Award and many more. She was also nominated as an EXTRAordinary Woman in Boston in 2019. Before joining BU, Dean Onwauchi-Willig was the Chancellor’s Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law. She has also taught at the University of Iowa College of Law.

8. Aimee Meredith Cox

Aimee Meredith Cox is the Director of Undergraduate Studies at Yale University. She is also an Associate Professor of Anthropology and African American Studies. Dr. Cox is an accomplished, decorated writer and professor. Her first book Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship received raving reviews. Her next ethnographic project, Living Past Slow Death, explores the creative protest strategies individuals and communities enact to reclaim Black life in the urban United States.

9. Imani Perry

Imani Perry is the current Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a faculty associate with the Programs in Law and Public Affairs, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Jazz Studies. She has written 6 books and received multiple awards including the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction for her book Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry. She is a scholar of law, literary and cultural studies. Her education background includes her Ph.D. in American Studies from Harvard, a J.D. From Harvard Law School, an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BA from Yale in LIterature and American Studies. Her writing and teaching focuses largely on Black History.

10. Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Kimberlé W. Crenshaw is a distinguished scholar and writer who focuses on civil rights, critical race theory, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism, and the law. She is a professor of Law at Columbia University and a distinguished professor of law at UCLA. Crenshaw is the founder of The African American Policy Forum, who coined #sayhername, a movement to recognize police brutality towards Black women. Crenshaw has been published in numerous law journals and continues to fight for intersectionality, all while continuing to inspire students at two top US universities.