Anthony Ramos

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has published numerous books and produced and hosted an array of documentary films. The Black Church (PBS) and Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO), which he executive produced, have each received Emmy nominations. His latest history series for PBS is Making Black America: Through the Grapevine. Finding Your Roots, Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, is now in its ninth season on PBS.

Gates is a recipient of a number of honorary degrees, including his alma mater, the University of Cambridge. Gates was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998 he became the first African-American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal.

A native of Piedmont, West Virginia, Gates earned his B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1973, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Clare College at Cambridge in 1979, where he is also an Honorary Fellow.  He is the co-founder of The Root.com.  A former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and serves on a wide array of boards, including the New York Public Library, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Aspen Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Library of America, and The Studio Museum of Harlem. In 2011, his portrait, by Yuqi Wang, was hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Anthony Ramos is a Grammy®-winning artist, Golden Globe®  and Emmy® nominated actor who starred in this summer’s hit, TWISTERS for Universal directed by Academy® Award nominee, Lee Isaac Chung. The film opened #1 at the box office. 

Ramos starred in TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS, which opened #1 at the box office, world wide and can be seen in Sony’s recent feature, DUMB MONEY directed by Craig Gillespie. He can be seen starring in Marvel’s forthcoming limited series, IRONHEART for Disney +.

Ramos is known for inaugurating the dual roles of “John Laurens” and “Philip Hamilton” in the critically acclaimed, TONY Award-winning  Broadway musical and feature film, HAMILTON in which he was Emmy nominated.  He went on to star as the lead in Jon M. Chu’s IN THE HEIGHTS, the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Musical, which was released in theaters and streaming via HBO Max. For his portrayal of “Usnavi” Ramos earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Film and was included in Indie Wire and W Magazine's year-end Best Performance round-up.

Additional credits include HBO’s reimagining of the Emmy® Award-winning series IN TREATMENT opposite Uzo Aduba, his role opposite Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in the Academy® Award-winning film A STAR IS BORN, starring as ‘Mars Blackmon’ in Spike Lee’s critically-acclaimed Netflix series SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, playing Mr. Piranha in the animated feature BAD GUYS for Dreamwork and voicing ‘King Trollex’ in Paramount’s animated feature film, TROLLS WORLD TOUR.  Ramos earned rave reviews for his role as ‘Manny’ in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s award-winning film MONSTERS AND MEN, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the Special Jury Prize.

Ramos, a multi-hyphenate, is a recording artist signed to Republic Records. He is currently in development with Mattel Films, Shadow Machine, and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions on a new animated version of BOB THE BUILDER that he is producing and will also star in. 

Anthony Ramos, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  

TICKETS

Tickets will not be required for this event, but attendees are encouraged to RSVP to receive important updates about parking, security, etc. RSVP here. 

SAFETY & SECURITY

• Please view this list of items that will not be permitted to bring into the event. Attendees who attempt to bring such items will be asked to return them to their vehicle. LMU will not hold or be responsible for any of these items. 
• Prior to entering the venue, guests will be screened (wand and bag checks) to ensure that none of the restricted items enter the venue. If guests need to exit the venue, they will be rescreened before reentering the venue.
• Please arrive early to allow enough time to park, move through security, and find a seat. 
• LMU Campus Safety is available 24/7 for safety and security concerns and can be reached at 310.338.2893. 

DIRECTIONS

Driving directions to LMU are available. Please use the main LMU entrance at Lincoln and LMU Drive. PDF Campus Map | Interactive Campus Map 

PARKING

Please enter campus via Lincoln Boulevard. Parking will be available in Drollinger Parking Plaza and Lot-A, Hannon Parking Lot. We recommend arriving 30 minutes before the start of the presentation to allow time for parking and locating the event. 

Please note that parking on campus is free on weekends, but visitors must park in designated visitor parking lots, garages, and spaces. Please observe all signs and traffic devices when operating a vehicle on campus.