NYC Gazette

Musician and actor Eve joins NYU Steinhardt as Scholar-in-Residence for 2024-25. Photo by Flix by Rich.

Grammy Award winner and Emmy-nominated actor Eve Jihan Cooper will share her experience as a trailblazing woman in hip-hop as the 2024-25 Scholar-in-Residence at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

The year-long residency kicks off September 21 with a welcoming event. It will be followed by a series of meetings, classroom visits, and intimate conversations with students and faculty about Eve’s historic career and the evolving music industry.

“We are thrilled to be hosting Eve as our 2024-25 Scholar in Residence,” says Jack H. Knott, the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of NYU Steinhardt. “She will share the expertise she's gained as an award-winning artist in music, film, and television, as well as a philanthropist working with young people in the arts. I know our students and faculty will learn from her engagement and support of our efforts to advance equity, belonging, and innovation.”

Eve has built a successful career in entertainment over more than two decades. In 1999, her debut studio album, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, reached the top of the Billboard 200, making her only the third female rapper to achieve that position. She subsequently released three additional albums, including 2002’s Scorpion, which was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Rap Album. She won the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Grammy Award that year for Let Me Blow Ya Mind, a duet with Gwen Stefani from that record.

In addition to her music, Eve has starred in 15 movies and television series, including the critically acclaimed Queens. She also starred in and co-executive produced her own self-titled sitcom and served as co-host of the CBS daytime talk show The Talk. A native of Philadelphia, Eve is also a mother and philanthropist focused on supporting women and girls in education and the arts.

Eve’s memoir Who’s That Girl?, written with journalist and NYU adjunct professor Kathy Iandoli, will be released this month.

The residency builds on Steinhardt’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop held last year.

“I want people to get an understanding of who I am as a person outside of music,” Eve says. “I am looking forward to getting to know the community and meeting in intimate settings to give students a chance to ask me anything they want to ask.”

Located in New York City’s Greenwich Village, NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development prepares students for careers in arts education health media psychology Since its founding in 1890 NYU's mission has been expanding human capacity through public service global collaboration research scholarship practice To learn more visit steinhardt.nyu.edu