Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Professor, Executive Producer, Writer, and Host
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. An Emmy, Du Pont, and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, and institution builder, he has published numerous books and produced and hosted an array of documentary films about Black History, including, most recently, Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History (PBS, 2026).Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, Finding Your Roots, which received a Primetime Emmy nomination, is now in its twelfth season on PBS. His latest book, The Black Box: Writing the Race (Penguin Random House, 2024), was named one of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Year.
Gates is a recipient of numerous honorary degrees, including one from his graduate alma mater, the University of Cambridge, one from his undergraduate alma mater, Yale University, and one from The London School of Economics. Gates was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998 he became the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal, conferred by President William Jefferson Clinton. In 2001 he discovered the first novel written by a Black female author, The Bondwoman’s Narrative, by Hannah Craft, the holograph manuscript of which he donated to Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book Library.
A native of Piedmont, West Virginia, Gates earned his B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1973, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from Clare College, Cambridge, in 1979, where he is an Honorary Fellow. A former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and serves on a wide array of boards, including the New York Public Library, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Aspen Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Library of America, and The Studio Museum of Harlem. In 2011, his portrait, by Yuqi Wang, was hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. In 2023, his portrait, by Kerry James Marshall, was hung at the Fitzwilliam Museum at The University of Cambridge. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in his junior year. In July 2024, he was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. In December 2024, he was awarded The Barry Prize and was elected an Honorary Fellow by the Royal Academy of Arts. In February 2025, he was awarded the Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Literary Scholarship. Gates is an International Fellow of the British Academy and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Desmond K. Blackburn, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer, Facing History & Ourselves
Desmond K. Blackburn, PhD began serving as President and CEO of Facing History & Ourselves in April, 2023.
Desmond is committed to bringing Facing History’s resources to more teachers, schools, and districts than ever. He is also dedicated to nurturing a workplace culture where staff are highly engaged and excited to help teachers and their students stand up to bigotry and hate.
Before joining Facing History, Desmond was Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership for the New York City Department of Education, the largest school system in the nation. In this role, he oversaw executive superintendents in addition to all-district and high school superintendents. Prior to that, Desmond served as CEO of the New Teacher Center, a national nonprofit that works to disrupt the predictability of educational inequities for systemically underserved students by accelerating educator effectiveness.
His career in education began in 1996 as a high school math teacher. Desmond continued to follow his passion for education as he rose through the Broward County Public School system in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Assistant Principal, Principal, Director of School Improvement, Area Superintendent, and finally Chief of School Performance & Accountability. In 2015 he became the Superintendent of Schools for Brevard Public Schools in Brevard County, where his guidance led to the 10th highest graduation rate in the state with three schools earning the distinguished National Blue Ribbon, and the State of Florida grading the system with an “A” for two consecutive years.
Desmond has served both state and national organizations including the Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) and Chiefs For Change. He sits on the Board of Educational Resource Strategies and is a fellow at the Broad Academy and Pahara Institute as well as an Advisory Committee Member for The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management. He received a BS in Mathematics from the University of Florida along with graduate degrees in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University (MS) and Florida Atlantic University (PhD).
Daniel Braunfeld
Senior Director, Organizational Thought Leadership & Special Initiatives, Facing History & Ourselves
Daniel Braunfeld serves as the Senior Director for Organizational Thought Leadership and Special Initiatives at Facing History & Ourselves. For over twenty years, Daniel has been an educational leader in organizational and educational settings. He most recently worked as the Director for Teen Engagement at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where he piloted, launched, and grew an advanced learning fellowship for Jewish high school students across North America. Daniel recently returned to Facing History, inspired by the opportunity to support the intellectual and educational vision of the organization, direct the Contemporary Antisemitism Initiative, manage the Board of Scholars, and support internal learning while being a voice of Facing History in the educational landscape.
Daniel completed coursework in pursuit of a doctorate in education at the Davidson School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, received his M.S.Ed in Leadership for Educational Change from Bank Street College of Education, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University with a major in history and a minor in education.
In his "free time" Daniel likes to cook, read, draw, and play outside with his kids. He lives in NY with his partner, Mara, and their amazing children.
This was an excellent session!