Dr. Jamal Watson is an award winning writer and lecturer. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Evolution of Al Sharpton: The Provocative Politics of the People’s Preacher, a biography of the civil rights leader and MSNBC host.  

Watson is currently executive editor for Diverse: Issues in Higher Education , the country’s leading periodical that focuses on minorities and diversity related issues in higher education. His writings have also appeared in a variety of publications including The Baltimore Sun, The New York Sun, USA Today, The Washington City Paper and The Boston Globe. He is also a professor and associate dean of graduate studies at Trinity Washington University, in Washington, D.C. In 2025, Watson was ranked by Rick Hess in Education Week as one of 200-university-based scholars in the United States who did the most in 2024 to shape educational practice and policy

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Watson earned his Bachelor’s degree in English from Georgetown University, a Masters degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and a Masters and a doctoral degree in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Watson is a regular guest on local and national media.  He has appeared on National Public Radio, CNN, C-Span and most recently on MSNBC.

He is the author of two essays featured in the anthology Writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance published by University of Illinois Press and edited by Steven C. Tracy and The Student Debt Crisis: America’s Moral Urgency (2025, Broadleaf Books)

He currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.