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Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Birth Name:
Henry Louis Gates
Birth Place:
Keyser, West Virginia, United States
Profession
Producer, Writer, Actor
Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Fast Facts

  • Won a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award in 1981, a George Polk Award for Social Commentary in 1993, and a Ralph Lowell Award in 2008
  • Won an NAACP Image Award for "In Search of Our Roots: How Nineteen Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past" in 2010
  • Received a National Humanities Medal in 1998 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1999
  • Won the American Book Award for "The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism" in 1989
  • Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale University with a degree in English Language and Literature in 1973 and earned his Master's and Ph․D․ in English Literature from the University of Cambridge, and has received 51 honorary degrees
  • Taught at Yale University, Cornell University, and Duke University before joining the Harvard University faculty in 1991
  • Has written several documentaries, including "Finding Your Roots," "Faces of America," and "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross․"
  • Best known as an author, literary critic, Harvard professor, and director of the W․E․B․ Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research
  • Is the Editor-in-Chief at TheRoot․com, an online magazine with a focus on the African American community, as well as the Oxford African American Studies Center, a comprehensive online resource in African American and Africana Studies
  • Is the author of several books, including "Black in Latin America," "Faces of America," and "Tradition and the Black Atlantic: Criticism in the African Diaspora․"

Awards

  • 2013Peabody Award - Winner:Winner
  • 2014Emmy - Outstanding Historical Programming - Long Form:Winner
  • 2014Emmy - Outstanding Historical Programming - Long Form:Winner
  • 2017Emmy - Outstanding Historical Documentary:Nominated
  • 2018Emmy - Outstanding Historical Documentary:Nominated
  • 2022Primetime Emmy - Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking:Nominated
  • 2024Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special:Nominated
  • 2025Image Award - Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) - Individual or Ensemble:Nominated
  • 2025Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special:Nominated
  • 2026Image Award - Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) - Individual or Ensemble:Nominated
  • 2026Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special:Nominated
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