Omar Wasow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Omar Wasow
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Wasow in 2007
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| Born |
Omar Tomas Wasow
1970 (age 54–55) Nairobi, Kenya
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| Nationality | American |
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| Known for | Political science, race and ethnic politics |
| Spouse(s) |
Jennifer Brea
(m. 2012) |
Omar Tomas Wasow, born on December 22, 1970, is a professor at UC Berkeley. He is also known for helping to start a social networking website called BlackPlanet.
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About Omar Wasow's Life
Omar Wasow grew up in a family with different backgrounds. His father, Bernard, had German Jewish roots, and his mother, Eileen, was African-American.
His father, Bernard, was involved in the Civil rights movement. He helped with the Freedom Summer project, which worked to register Black voters in Mississippi. Omar's grandfather, Wolfgang R. Wasow, was a mathematician. Both his grandfather and grandmother on his father's side were of German Jewish heritage.
Omar Wasow's Education
Omar Wasow went to Stuyvesant High School in New York City. While there, he was the president of the student union.
In 1992, he graduated from Stanford University in California. He earned a bachelor's degree in race and ethnic relations. Later, in 2012, he received three more degrees from Harvard University. These included a PhD in African-American studies, a master's degree in government, and a master's degree in statistics.
His Career in Technology
In 1995, Newsweek magazine named Omar Wasow as one of the "fifty most influential people to watch in cyberspace." This meant he was seen as a very important person in the early days of the internet.
In 1999, he created BlackPlanet. This was one of the first big social networking websites. In 2008, the company that owned BlackPlanet was sold for $38 million.
His Career as a Professor
In 2013, Omar Wasow became a professor of Politics at Princeton University.
His work focuses on race and ethnic politics, as well as social movements and protests. Just before the murder of George Floyd, his important paper was published. This paper, in the American Political Science Review, looked at violent and nonviolent civil rights protests from the 1960s.
His paper was talked about a lot in the news around the world during the George Floyd protests. A group called Altmetric ranked his paper in the top 1% of all papers published. This means it was one of the most discussed and impactful research papers.
Wasow has also written about the George Floyd protests and the 2021 United States Capitol attack.
In 2021, Wasow became a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California. In 2022, he moved to UC Berkeley to become a professor in their Department of Political Science.
His Personal Life
In 2012, Omar Wasow married Jennifer Brea. She is a filmmaker whom he met when they were both studying at Harvard. He appears in her documentary film, Unrest. This film is about her experience living with myalgic encephalomyelitis, a long-term illness. The film was shown for the first time at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
Omar Wasow's sister, Althea Wasow, is also a filmmaker. She is married to the writer Paul Beatty.
