Author and scholar Michael Eric Dyson to deliver sixth annual Mary Frances Early Lecture

Best-selling author and scholar, Michael Eric Dyson, will deliver the keynote address at the University of Georgia's sixth annual Mary Frances Early Lecture on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in the UGA Chapel.

“Remembering our Past, Securing our Future: African-American Leadership in the 21st Century,” is sponsored by Graduate and Professional Scholars at UGA, is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing will follow.

The lecture is named in honor of the first African-American graduate of UGA, Mary Frances Early, who earned a master of music education degree in 1962. She recently retired from the position of chairperson of the music department and professor of music at Clark Atlanta University. Early played an integral role in the desegregation of UGA. That role is featured in the documentary, Foot Soldiers for Equal Justice, which was co-produced by former GAPS advisor and dean of the School of Social Work Maurice Daniels.

Two former members of GAPS, Valerie White and Tracey Ford, established the Early Lecture in 2000. Ford is currently serving as an advisor to GAPS.

Dyson has made many appearances across the country, lecturing at hundreds of universities, churches, conventions and conferences and has interviewed with numerous television hosts such as Tavis Smiley, Dennis Miller, Paula Zhan, Bill Maher, Bill O'Reiley and Ted Koppel. Essence magazine named Dyson one of the 50 most inspiring African Americans and he is one of the nation's most renowned public intellectuals. Dyson's literary and political efforts have been rewarded with the 1992 magazine award from the National Association of Black Journalists, the prestigious 2004 NAACP Image Award for outstanding nonfiction literary work for his national bestseller, Why I Love Black Women, and the 2005 BET/General Motors Black History Makers Award.

Dyson has written numerous books including his three latest, Is Bill Cosby Right Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?, Come Hell of High Water: Hurricane Katrina and Color of Disaster and Pride: The Seven Deadly Sins. In addition to his writings, Dyson has taught at Chicago Theological Seminary, Brown University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, and DePaul University. He is presently the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities, and professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Mary Frances Early Lecture is co-sponsored this year by a variety of organizations and units on UGA's campus, including the Office of the President, Committee for Black Cultural Programs, Office of Institutional Diversity, Alumni Association, the Graduate School, College of Education, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Work, Hugh Hodgson School of Music and Multicultural Services and Programs. GAPS was founded in 1984 to support underrepresented minority graduate and professional students.

For more information about the lecture or GAPS, contact Wendy Reynolds-Dobbs or Jessica Anderson at 706/542-5437 or gaps@uga.edu or visit www.uga.edu/gaps .
More information on Dyson can be found at www.michaelericdyson.com .

Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Writer: Wendy Reynolds-Dobbs, 706/542-5437, gaps@uga.edu
Contact: Jessica Anderson, 706/542-5437, gaps@uga.edu