Peniel E. Joseph is an American scholar, teacher, and public voice on race issues especially the history of the Black power movement.

Joseph joined UT Austin in 2015 from Tufts University in Massachusetts, where he had founded the school's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD).

Joseph also serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBTQIA safe-space, community activist center, and educational enclave dedicated to honoring Bayard Rustin through their mission and good works.

Joseph attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies and European History.

According to the Journal of American History in 2010:Over the last few years, by editing a number of important collections, penning several key articles, and writing a fine book, Peniel E. Joseph has emerged as a sort of dean of black power studies.