Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, the prominent African American scholar known for his writings on hip hop and African American life and culture is heading to Georgetown University in the fall, where he will hold the distinguished rank of University Professor—the highest position that a faculty member can have at the nation’s oldest Catholic university.
But some university officials at the University of Pennsylvania, where Dyson has held the Avalon Professor of Humanities since 2002, said that they didn’t even know that the 49-year-old scholar was leaving.
“The conversation that I am having with you is the most extensive conversation that I’ve had with anyone about Michael,” said Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, the director of Penn’s Center for Africana Studies, commenting to a reporter after he was told that Dyson had accepted a position at Georgetown. “I don’t talk to him very much.”
Minutes later, Zuberi logged onto Dyson’s website to find out that Dyson—who was scheduled to teach a class at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall– had already changed his bio, replacing the University of Pennsylvania with Georgetown University as his place of employment.
“This is news to me,” said Zuberi, who has been at Penn for 19 years. “Professor Dyson is definitely a unique scholar. He is a great celebrity and people really look forward to the books that he writes and people really do read them. I wish him all the best in his endeavors at Georgetown University.”
Diverse first contacted Dyson several weeks ago after receiving an advance copy of his latest book “Know What I Mean? Reflection on Hip Hop,” scheduled to be released next month. On the cover of the book, Dyson is named as a Georgetown University Professor. At the time, Dyson said that he was in negotiations with Georgetown University and could not comment until the deal was official.
Several weeks later, a few websites including his own, listed Dyson at Georgetown instead of the University of Pennsylvania. When contacted by Diverse again, Dyson promised a phone interview later in the week but could not be reached for comment.
