Ezra Tawil (1967 – January 23, 2024) was a scholar of American literature, and professor of English at the University of Rochester from 2011 until his death in 2024.[1] His work on early American literature, the legacy of slavery in the United States, and the distinctive style of American literature is widely influential.[2] He served for many years as the Director of Graduate Studies in the English Department.[3] After undergraduate study at Wesleyan University, he completed his doctorate at Brown University in 2000. From 2008 to 2009 he was a Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library, where he also led seminars for Middle and High School Teachers.