Robert L. Boyd is Professor of Sociology and teaches courses in introductory sociology, urban sociology, and racial minorities. His research examines how the "Great Migrations" of blacks to cities in the early twentieth century transformed the character of black business enterprise and urban black communities in the United States. His recent studies have explored the following topics: 1) the influence of residential segregation by race on the development of black-owned businesses, 2) the emergence of urban subcultures in northern black communities during the Great Migration, 3) historical changes in the characteristics of eminent black entrepreneurs, and 4) the rise of the northern "Black Metropolis" of the early twentieth century. The author of over 50 articles in refereed journals, his recent publications include: "Race, Self-Employment, and Labor Absorption: Black and White Women in Domestic Service in the Urban South during the Great Depression," The American Journal of Economics and Sociology (2012); "The Organization of an Ethnic Economy: Urban Black Communities in the Early Twentieth Century," Journal of Socio-Economics (2012); and "The 'Black Metropolis' Revisited: A Comparative Analysis of Northern and Southern Cities in the United States in the Early Twentieth Century," Urban Studies (2012). He received the Clinton Wallace Dean's Eminent Scholar Award of the College of Arts and Sciences for the 2010-2011 Academic Year.