Jelani Cobb has been dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 2022, having joined the faculty in 2016. Cobb has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2015, and a political analyst for MSNBC since 2019. He is the author of five books, including The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, and editor or co-editor of volumes including The Matter of Black Lives and The Essential Kerner Commission Report. He has produced or co-produced several documentaries, including “Lincoln’s Dilemma” and “Policing the Police.” Cobb is the recipient of numerous honors, including a Peabody Award for his 2020 PBS Frontline film "Whose Vote Counts?" and fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center. Cobb holds a B.A. from Howard University and an M.A. and doctorate in American history from Rutgers.