About the Author

Gregory H. Williams is the 11th president of The City College of New York, which was established in 1847 and is the flagship college of The City University of New York. It is one of the oldest public universities in the United States. Among its graduates are nine Nobel Prize winners; former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Dr. Jonas Salk; and the founder of INTEL, Andy Grove.

Williams has five earned degrees, including the J.D. and a Ph.D. from George Washington University, and is the holder of three honorary doctorates. He has been a university administrator for more than 30 years, holding a wide variety of posts at George Washington University, the University of Iowa, and Ohio State University.

Immediately prior to assuming the presidency of The City College of New York, Williams served as dean of the Law School and Carter C. Kissell Professor of Law at Ohio State University. Early in his career Williams was a deputy sheriff and later worked as an aide to a United States Senator.

Williams has published three books and a number of articles and book reviews for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. He is best known for his award-winning and best selling memoir, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black. As a result of his autobiography he has been featured on a number of national programs, including Oprah, Dateline NBC with Tom Brokaw, Larry King Live, ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel and Fresh Air with Terri Gross of National Public Radio. In 1995, Life on the Color Line was selected as Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times. In 1996, the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America named Life on the Color Line an "Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights," and it is often required reading for many entering students at the nation's colleges and universities.

In 2004, Williams received the “Governor’s Tribute to African-American Leaders of Excellence in State Service” from Governor George Pataki for his significant contributions to the people of New York. In 1999, he was named the first recipient of the National Bar Association's A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Preservation of Human and Civil Rights. Also in 1999, he was selected as "Dean of the Year" by the National Association of Public Interest Law.

President William Jefferson Clinton invited Williams to the White House in 1998, as part of his “Call to Action” to promote pro bono work and diversity in the legal profession. Williams is a past president of the Association of American Law Schools.