Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D.

Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D.

University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University and author of 25 books

Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D. is University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University, where he holds positions in both the College of Arts & Science and The Divinity School.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Prof. Dyson is also a gifted writer and media personality. He has authored over 25 books, including seven New York Times bestsellers, and has won numerous awards for his literary contributions, including the 2020 Langston Hughes Medal and two NAACP Image Awards.

Prof. Dyson’s work spans a wide range of topics, including civil rights, hip-hop, Black culture, and politics. He has written bestselling books on figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, 2Pac, Marvin Gaye, Bill Cosby, and Barack Obama. His most recent book, Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America, has been described as a “searing cry for racial justice” and a “sweeping overview of racism in America.”

His book, The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America, was described by the New York Times as “an interpretive miracle” and was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize. Dyson’s New York Times bestseller Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America was a finalist for the 2018 Southern Book Prize.