Author and Culinary Historian; New York, NY

Jessica B. Harris, PhD, considered by many to be one of the ranking authorities on the food of the African Diaspora, is the author, editor, or translator of eighteen books including twelve cookbooks documenting the foodways of the African Diaspora. She is a sought-after speaker and has lectured widely and written extensively for scholarly and popular publications. Harris consults internationally and conceptualized the award-winning cafeteria of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. She is currently leading the Culinary Institute of America’s new African Diaspora Foodways initiative. Dr. Harris is also lead curator for the exhibit African/American: Making the Nation’s Table to be presented by New York’s Museum of Food and Drink in 2022. In 2021, Time Magazine selected her for the TIME100, their annual list of the hundred most influential people in the world. Dr. Harris holds numerous awards and accolades including an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Johnson & Wales University. In 2019, her food-related works were inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame and she is the 2020 James Beard Lifetime Achievement awardee. Dr. Harris taught at Queens College/CUNY, New York, for five decades and is currently professor emerita at that institution.

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