Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry holds the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University, where she teaches and conducts research in Politics and International Affairs, Women and Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Environment and Sustainability. Her academic work centers on American politics through the lenses of race, gender, and place.

A prominent voice in media, Harris-Perry was the final host and managing editor of The Takeaway, a nationally syndicated public radio program airing on over 300 stations. Alongside Dorian Warren, she co-created and co-hosted the show’s special series Deep Dives with MHP and Dorian and the podcast System Check.

She is the founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center, advancing justice through intersectional scholarship and action. Harris-Perry is the author of Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and the award-winning Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.

From 2012 to 2016, she hosted Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC, earning the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism. She has served as editor-at-large for Elle.com, ZORA, and continues as a contributing editor for The Nation.

Harris-Perry holds degrees from Wake Forest University (B.A.), Duke University (Ph.D.), and studied theology at Union Theological Seminary. She previously taught at the University of Chicago, Princeton, and Tulane, and has received honorary degrees from institutions including NYU and Winston-Salem State University.

She serves on the boards of The Century Foundation, The Next 100, and The Markup, and lives with her family in North Carolina.