Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

On July 3, 2007, a press release was issued announcing his departure from the University of Pennsylvania where he was the Avalon Professor of Humanities for 4 years, to serve as a University Professor at Georgetown University, where he will teach theology, English, and African-American studies. A University professorship is said to be the highest position that a faculty member can have at Georgetown, which is the nation's oldest Roman Catholic and Jesuit university. Dyson also previously taught at DePaul University, Chicago Theological Seminary, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University and Brown University. Dyson holds a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University. He is an ordained Baptist minister.
From January 2006 to February 2007 Dyson was the host of a daily syndicated talk radio program, The Michael Eric Dyson Show, which aired on weekdays from 10AM to 1PM (EST) on the Syndication One Radio Network (owned and operated by Radio One). He is also a regular commentator on National Public Radio, CNN, and the HBO TV program Real Time with Bill Maher. Dyson is best known for his commentary on American culture, particularly as it pertains to African Americans. Dyson uses the terms "Afristocracy" and "ghettocracy" to describe a bifurcation in American black society. He is also one of the world's leading scholars on the hip-hop music genre and the culture that surrounds it, as well as its roots in African and African-American cultures and influence on American popular culture