# Sharon Wright Austin

sharon wright austin (née Sharon D. Wright) is an American political scientist, currently a professor of political science at the University of Florida, where she was also a longtime Director of the African-American Studies Program. Austin is a prominent scholar of American politics with specialties in African-American studies, political participation, and both urban and rural local politics. == Early career and education == Austin graduated from Westwood High School in Memphis, Tennessee, and then attended the Christian Brothers University, earning a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in political science in 1987.