Charles DeBose has served on the Board of Trustees of the Alpha Phi Alpha Foundation of Akron since 2011. He currently serves as Professor Emeritus for California State University East Bay (CSUEB). Charles was born in Mer Rouge Louisiana in 1939 and raised in Akron, Ohio. He earned a B.A. degree from the University of Akron (UA) in 1962, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford University in 1975. He is the author of a number of scholarly books and articles. While at UA Charles was inducted into the Alpha Tau Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha in a noteworthy line of pledges that included the late Judge James R. Williams. Other surviving brothers of that line are Attorney Charles Greene, who succeeded Judge Williams as Chairman of the Foundation, and Climon Lee. Prior to his doctoral studies, and after graduating from UA, DeBose served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic; as a Research Associate for the United Planning Organization in Washington D.C; and as Training Coordinator for the Economic Opportunity Organization, Berkeley Area, in California. He joined the CSUEB faculty in 1990 at the rank of Associate Professor, attained tenure in 1994 and was promoted to full Professor in 1996. He attained Emeritus status in 2006. Prior to joining the English faculty at CSUEB he served on the linguistics faculty of California State University Fresno, and as Visiting Lecturer in Afro-American Studies at the University of California Berkeley. He is now permanently relocated to Northeastern Ohio where he continues to engage in scholarly research and writing. He is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a member of Saint Paul AME Church in Akron. He and his wife Jacqueline have two sons, Fred and Charles Jr. and a granddaughter Mona.