Dr. W. Gabriel Selassie I is the Ralph Bunche Professor of Comparative Religion, African American Studies, and U.S. History. Dr. Selassie I earned a doctorate in history from the Claremont Graduate School. He studied under Robert Hill, the foremost scholar of Marcus Garvey at UCLA.

He continued his education in theology at the University of Notre Dame and African politics at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford. He has written extensively on the early books of Rastafari religion including an analysis of The Promised Key by Leonard Percival Howell aka G.G. Maragh.