Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison, an African-American Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, editor and professor.  Known for her novels, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved.  Her novel Beloved was based on an African-American slave in the year of 1873 just after the American Civil War.  Beloved was turned into a film in 1998 which starred Oprah Winfrey and the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.

Toni Morrison received her B.A. in English from Howard University in 1953; and received her Master of Arts degree in English from Cornell University in 1955.  Toni Morrison taught English at two branches of New York State University.  In 1989 until her retirement in 2006 she held the Robert F. Goheen Chair in the Humanities at Princeton University.  While at Princeton, Toni Morrison developed the prestigious Princeton Atelier, a program that brings together talented students with world famous artists.

Barnard College has honored her with its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction. Oxford University and Rutgers University has awarded her an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP6umkgMRq4