Who

A professor of religion at Princeton University, West is one of the foremost—and most controversial—African-American scholars in the country.

Backstory

A native of Tulsa, West spent his childhood living in segregated working-class neighborhoods in Oklahoma, Kansas, and California, and first developed an interest in racism and discrimination in high school, where he was class president. At 17, he enrolled at Harvard and graduated in just three years before earning a PhD from Princeton in 1980. His first teaching job was lecturing in classical and contemporary philosophy at Union Theological Seminary. In 1984, West moved to Yale when he was hired by its divinity school. By 1988 he was on the move again, accepting a position at Princeton as co-head of the African-American studies program, working alongside notable faculty members like Toni Morrison to revitalize the program. After a seven-year stint at Princeton, he decamped to Cambridge to join his alma mater. But after a nasty public spat with then-Harvard President Larry Summers, West packed his bags and headed back to Princeton in 2002.

Of note

West is one of the most famous philosophy professors in America, although not because of his scholarly research or the plaudits he's earned from his academic colleagues. Although he teaches classes (he interprets the African American experience for classes of mostly-white students) and has written a number of books on race relations and democracy (such as 1993's Race Matters, 1996's The Future of Race, with Henry Louis Gates Jr., and 2000's The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Century), he's a household name thanks to his taste for the spotlight and his ability to court controversy. The avowed socialist and political rabble rouser has branded the U.S. a "racist patriarchal" country and maintained ties to controversial black political leaders like Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton. He's also found time to appear in movies (in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions he played a Zion elder named Counselor West), produce a hip-hop album (Sketches of My Culture) and make regular appearances on TV shows to talk about race and politics. West's media presence hasn't exactly endeared him to other academics. He's long been criticized by fellow professors for what one colleague described as his "crass showmanship."

Drama

West has been a controversial figure for two decades, but the complaints really came to a head in 2002 with his dramatic departure from Harvard. Critics said the brouhaha stemmed from his failure to publish enough serious academic work, his tendency to hand out too many high grades, and his habit of skipping classes in favor of high-profile speaking gigs. The less-than-credible theory circulating among some West supporters was that the professor was upset that Larry Summers didn't send him a get-well card when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The look

West has sported his trademark look—afro, goatee, glasses—for as long as he's been an academic.

Personal

Divorced twice, West is now married to Elleni Gebre Amlak; they live in Princeton. He has a son, Clifton.