Juan Battle is a Professor of Sociology, Public Health, & Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (C.U.N.Y.).

With over 60 grants and publications – including books, book chapters, academic articles, and encyclopedia entries – his research focuses on race, sexuality, and social justice. 

In addition to having delivered lectures at a multitude of universities, colleges, community based organizations, and funding agencies throughout the world, Professor Battle’s scholarship has included work throughout North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Among his current projects, he is heading the Social Justice Sexuality initiative – a project exploring the lived experiences of Black, Latina/o, and Asian lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Additionally, he is developing a project examining college progression among Black men and other vulnerable populations.

Most recently, he was a Fulbright Senior Specialist and was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Further, he is a recent president of the Association of Black Sociologists and is actively involved with the American Sociological Association (ASA).

He was also an organizer of Race/Sex/Power: New Movements in Black and Latina/o Sexualities – a national conference recently held in Chicago, IL.  With the Social Science Research Council, he organized a gathering of academics and activists dedicated to building and broadening the field examining the intersections of race and sexuality.

Further, he was a co-investigator on a project entitled “Interdisciplinary Curriculum in Urban Health Research.” This NIH-funded project developed an interdisciplinary curriculum to educate researchers to deal more effectively with health issues specific to individuals living in urban areas.  And, on a more local level, he was a researcher with R.E.A.L. M.E.N. (Returning Educated African American and Latino Men to Empowered Neighborhoods) – a project targeting over 500 16- to 19-year old men who are leaving Riker's Island (the local jail in New York City) and returning to communities in New York City. Additionally, Prof. Battle recently completed a study – funded by four Ford Foundation offices around the world – researching social justice philanthropy in Kenya, India, Indonesia, Peru, and the United States.

Professor Battle's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Ford Foundation, the Arcus Foundation, as well as a number of state and local government agencies and foundations.   Additionally, he has served as a reviewer for NIH, NSF, and the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).  He is on the editorial boards of and serves as a reviewer for several academic journals, including Contemporary Sociology, Journal of African American Studies, Sociological Quarterly, Western Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Negro Education, and the Journal of Poverty.  He also the lead co-editor of Free At Last?: Black America in the Twenty-First Century (2006) and Black Sexualities: Probing Powers, Passions, Practices, and Policies (2010).

In addition to publishing in many academic journals, his work has been highlighted in popular national magazines, radio shows, and newspapers; among these have been Black Entertainment Television (BET), Essence magazine, and The Advocate magazine.  He was also selected as one of the top "Ten Black Men Transforming the World."

Finally, in addition to serving on the board of the scholarship fund of Camp Shohola for Boys, he is the former board chair of his local YMCA.

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