P. Merle Black (born 1942) is a retired American political scientist. He was formerly

Asa Griggs Candler Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola formula, Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta Georgia, Atlanta, G ...

Professor of Political Science at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

. He specializes in Southern politics, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Career

Black attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1964. He then joined the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

, and spent two years teaching in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. After completing his Peace Corps assignment, Black enrolled as a graduate student at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

where he would complete both a Master's Degree and a PhD. At the start of his graduate studies he focused broadly on global politics, but during the course of his PhD he shifted focus to the politics of the American south. In 1970, Black joined the political science faculty at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, and in 1989 he moved to Emory University, until his retirement in 2016. https://news.emory.edu/stories/2016/05/er_college_retirees/campus.html Black's twin brother, Earl Black, was a longtime professor at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, and the two coauthored several books on politics in the Southern United States. These include ''Politics and Society in the South'' and ''The Vital South''. Black was President of the Southern Political Science Association from 2002 to 2003. Black won the Southern Political Science Association's 2004

V. O. Key Valdimer Orlando Key Jr. (March 13, 1908 – October 4, 1963) was an American political science, political scientist known for his empirical study of American elections and voting behavior. He taught at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard. Early ...

award, together with Taeku Lee as well as his brother Earl Black.

Notes

External links

Faculty bio
*
''Booknotes'' interview with Earl and Merle Black on ''The Vital South: How Presidents are Elected'', May 3, 1992.
1942 births Living people Emory University faculty University of Chicago alumni Harvard University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) {{US-polisci-bio-stub American political scientists