Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead

Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead is the 30th president of Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). She is a professor of communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland and the founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice. She is also the host of the award-winning radio show Today with Dr. Kaye on WEAA, 88.9 FM, and the recent recipient of the Rev. John LaFarge, S.J. Award for her contributions to the struggle for racial justice and commitment to advancing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence for her outstanding reporting on the impact racial reckoning has had in helping to close the social/racial wealth gap for Black people in America. As one of only a few daily drive-time afternoon radio shows hosted by a Black woman, “Today with Dr. Kaye” has received two Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and nine Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association Awards. Dr. Kaye has also been cited by Essence magazine as one of the “Woke 100 black women” advocating for change. 

She is the author of five books, including the recently released my mother’s tomorrow: dispatches from Baltimore’s Black Butterfly and the award-winning Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Francis Davis. Dr. Whitehead is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the country, having given over 800 keynotes worldwide. She lives in Baltimore with her family.