Eddie R. Cole
Biography
Eddie R. Cole, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Higher Education and History at UCLA, and the author the award-winning book, The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom (Princeton University Press, 2020).
Dr. Cole’s research focuses on college presidents’ historic role in shaping racial policies and practices both inside and outside of the educational sphere. As a scholar of higher education history, his approach in covering historical material and making connections to the current, critical context has garnered respect and praise from academics as well as intellectuals and activists beyond the academy. His finesse in using extensive, historical materials to address contemporary racial issues in higher education demonstrates the role of higher education in influencing all aspects of American life.
Dr. Cole’s multi-award-winning book, The Campus Color Line, received several honors from various professional associations for its quality and depth on the mid-twentieth century college presidency and the Black Freedom Movement.
Additionally, his scholarship and public writing has also been featured in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chronicle of Higher Education.He has also been an expert commentator for BBC World News, MSNBC, and C-Span BookTV.
Dr. Cole has also been repeatedly recognized in Education Week as one of the 200 most influential scholars who have done the most to shape educational practice and policy. Dr. Cole received the 2018 Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education. He was also named a 2017 Mellon Emerging Faculty Leader Award from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, which recognized him as a professor poised “to play a significant role in shaping American higher education.” Also notable is his selection as a 2015 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards for scholars working in critical areas of education research.
Dr. Cole has also held research fellowships and grants from Princeton University and the University of Chicago, and he has been a Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for his work on higher education history. He is also a senior fellow for the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy.
Twitter: @EddieRCole
Publications
Cole, E. R. (2020). The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
- 2022: Winner of the Outstanding Publication Award, American Educational Research Association, Division J.
- 2021: Winner of the Outstanding Book Award, History of Education Society
- 2021: Winner of the Frederic W. Ness Book Award, Association of American Colleges & Universities
- 2021: Winner of the Outstanding Book Award, Association for the Study of Higher Education
- 2021: Winner of the Critics’ Choice Book Award, American Educational Studies Association
Cole, E. R. (2020). Race at the Top: Historical Insights on the College Presidency and Racial Inequities. Change, 52(2), 17-21.
Cole, E. R. (2018). College Presidents and Black Student Protests: A Historical Perspective on the Image of Racial Inclusion and the Reality of Exclusion. Peabody Journal of Education, 93(1), 78-89.
Cole, E. R., & Harper, S. R. (2017). Race and Rhetoric. An Analysis of College Presidents’ Statements on Campus Racial Incidents. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 10(4), 318-333.
Awards & Grants
- 2021: Winner of the Outstanding Book Award, History of Education Society
- 2021: Winner of the Frederic W. Ness Book Award, Association of American Colleges & Universities
- 2021: Winner of the Outstanding Book Award, Association for the Study of Higher Education
- 2021: Winner of the Critics’ Choice Book Award, American Educational Studies Association
- 2021: Education Scholar of Public Influence, Education Week
- 2018: Early Career Award, Association for the Study of Higher Education
- 2018: Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- 2017: Mellon Emerging Faculty Leader, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
- 2017: Robert L. Platzman Memorial Fellowship, University of Chicago
- 2015: National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
