Author and Director of the Institute for the Research in African American Studies at Columbia University, Manning Marable is one of America's most widely read scholars. Born in 1950, in Dayton, Ohio, Marable's academic career began in 1980 as the senior research associate of Africana Studies at Cornell University. He went on to become a professor of history, economics, ethnic studies and race relations at numerous top American Universities. In 1993, Marable became the founding director of the Institute for the Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University.

Marable wrote "Along the Color Line," a syndicated commentary series on African American politics and public affairs, which is published in newspapers and magazines in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, the Caribbean and India. He was a prolific author and contributed over 200 articles in academic journals and edited volumes. Marable also wrote over twenty books, including: co-editor, with Myrlie Evers-Williams, The Autobiography of Edgar Evers: A Hero's Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writings, Letters, and Speeches, which was published by Basic Civitas Books in 2005.

On November 30, 2000 Marable participated in The Connecticut Forum's "A Historical Evening" with fellow panelists David Halberstam and Doris Kearns Goodwin. In 2002, Marable established the Center for Contemporary Black History at Columbia University, which produces Souls, a quarterly academic journal of African-American studies. In 2005, Marable and members of his Malcolm X Biography Project designed the content for the multimedia educational kiosks featured at the Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center at the historic Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, the site of Malcolm X's 1965 assassination. Manning would eventually delve into this topic further, authoring a 600-page biography of Malcom X.

Manning died on April 1, 2011 in New York due to complications from pneumonia

NOTE: Bio was written on April 6, 2011