American linguist and cultural commentator. Born in Philadelphia, McWhorter was educated at Simon's Rock College, Rutgers University, New York University, and Stanford University, where he earned his Ph.D. in linguistics in 1993. He was a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and has taught at Columbia University since 2008. A frequent guest commentator on radio and television, McWhorter is sought out for his perspectives on matters of race relations and language. He is the author of thirteen books, including Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English (1998), The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language (2001), Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America (2005), and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English (2008). See also manhattan-institute.org/html/mcwhorter.htm.