Boyce D. Watkins

Boyce D. Watkins, "The People's Scholar,” is one of the leading social commentators, black speakers, and freedom fighters in America. As an advocate for education, economic empowerment, and social justice, he has changed the definition of what it means to be a black scholar and leader in America. "We don't need more PhD’s in the black community; we need more Ph.Dos.”

In addition to publishing many scholarly articles on finance and investing, Watkins shares his message with others, appearing in national media outlets, including CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, FOX News, BET, NPR, Essence, USA Today, The Today Show, ESPN, The Tom Joyner Morning Show and CBS Sports. Watkins appears in a weekly segment on Keeping it Real with Al Sharpton as a political expert. He is also the favored financial expert and social commentator for “The Wendy Williams Experience” with 11 million listeners nationwide.

Watkins has spoken to over 50,000 black youth about the benefits of obtaining a college education as part of his “Step Up and Go to College Tour.” In response to an announcement by President Obama, Watkins, along with Al Sharpton, Marc Lamont Hill, Jesse Jackson and other prominent black keynote speakers, are actively engaging in initiatives to combat the astronomical dropout rates for African American students.

As a financial speaker, he has advised black Americans through his series "Get your Paper Straight" and "Black Love, Black Money, Black Relationships" and through 150 national television, radio and print interviews in the last two years alone.

A faculty affiliate with the College Sports Research Institute at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Watkins has endured firestorms of controversy for his willingness to honestly and intelligently address racial inequality in university hiring/tenure practices, NCAA athletics, the prison system, "mainstream media," and the educational system. Featured on CNN, CBS, ESPN, and in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, he has led the movement to properly compensate college athletes, many of whom live in poverty while their coaches make millions. He argues that the tax exempt status of the NCAA should be challenged, and they should no longer have an anti-trust exemption.

Watkins earned BA and BS degrees with a triple major in finance, economics and business management. In college, he was selected by The Wall Street Journal as the “Outstanding Graduating Senior in Finance.” He then earned a MA in mathematical statistics from The University of Kentucky and a PhD in finance from Ohio State University where he was the only black American in the world to earn a PhD in finance during 2002. He currently serves as a finance professor at Syracuse University.