Ibram X. Kendi is the inaugural Carter G. Woodson Endowed Chair in History in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he serves as the inaugural director of the Institute for Advanced Study.
A leading historian and scholar on the history of racism in America, Dr. Kendi previously served as founding director of the Center for Antiracist Research and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling How to Be an Antiracist (One World, 2019) and Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (Bold Type Books, 2016), which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. His influential work has earned him a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred to as the “genius grant,” a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a selection as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the world.
An HBCU graduate, Dr. Kendi earned bachelor’s degrees in African American studies and journalism from Florida A&M University. He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in African American studies from Temple University in Philadelphia.
James Lee III is the Endowed Professor in Composition and Theoretical Studies in the James H. Gilliam, Jr. College of Liberal Arts at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He has been a Morgan State faculty member for more than two decades.
Throughout his career, Dr. Lee has composed over 80 works, spanning orchestral, chamber, vocal, choral, and solo pieces. His compositions have been performed by major orchestras across the United States and internationally in Brazil, Argentina, Russia, and Cuba. In addition to teaching at Morgan State, Dr. Lee currently serves as the composer-in-residence for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as a Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Lee earned his bachelor’s degree in piano performance, as well as his master’s degree and doctor of musical arts degree in composition from the University of Michigan.
