Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is a renowned expert on the culture and practices of freedom and the comparative study of slavery, ethnicity, and inequality.  His numerous papers and ten major academic books include Slavery and Social Death; Freedom in the Making of Western Culture; The Cultural Matrix:  Understanding Black Youth; The Confounding Island; The Paradox of Freedom; and Enslavement: Past and Present, as well as three novels.  Mr. Patterson’s many awards include the National Book Award for Non-Fiction, Jamaica’s Order of Merit, the 2023 Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement, the 2024 Hegel Prize, and the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award.