Who Is Tatyana Ali’s Husband? Here’s What to Know About Vaughn Rasberry

At just 11 years old, Tatyana Ali scored her breakthrough role as Ashley Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Although she had been acting since she was six years old, it wasn’t until her stint on the NBC sitcom that her career really took off. Since then, the actress has achieved many professional milestones, such as launching her singing career and appearing in numerous television shows and movies, from Love That Girl! to The Holiday Proposal Plan most recently. In the midst of her accomplishments within the entertainment industry, Ali also fell in love with her now-husband, Vaughn Rasberry, who has been her spouse for nearly eight years and the father of her two sons. 

Want to know more about Rasberry? Although the two of them have a relatively low-profile relationship, we scoured the internet to dig up everything we could on Ali’s significant other. 

Ahead, everything to know about Tatyana Ali’s husband, Vaughn Rasberry.

He Attended Howard University

According to his LinkedIn page, Rasberry attended Howard University in Washington D.C. in 1996 for college. He spent the next four years studying English before he received his bachelor’s degree in 2000.

He Has His Ph.D.

Upon graduating from Howard University, Rasberry enrolled at the University of Chicago in 2000. In 2001, he earned a Master of Arts in Humanities, and in 2009, he received his Ph.D. in English language and literature, per his LinkedIn.

He’s a Professor at Stanford University

After Rasberry earned his Ph.D., he started his professional career in education as an assistant professor at Stanford University, a title he held for seven years. In July 2017, he was promoted to associate professor, the role he currently retains. As an educator, Rasberry teaches African diaspora literature and philosophical theories of modernity. Per his bio page on Stanford’s website, he also teaches in collaboration with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and other university programs, including Modern Thought and Literature, African and African Studies, and American Studies.

In addition to his role as a professor, Rasberry works as the associate vice provost for graduate education, a position with which he was awarded in September 2022, according to his LinkedIn.

He’s an Award-Winning Author

In 2016, the Stanford professor published his first book, Race and the Totalitarian Century: Geopolitics in the Black Literary Imagination. In 2017, he won the Ralph Bunche Award from the American Political Science Association for his work. That same year, his written piece received the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and the Christian Gauss Award from the Phi Beta Kappa Society, per his Stanford bio.

Rasberry has also written several articles for various publications, such as a review essay called “Black Cultural Politics at the End of History” for the Winter 2012 issue of American Literary History and “Invoking Totalitarianism: Liberal Democracy versus the Global Jihad in Boualem Sansal’s The German Mujahid” in the Spring 2014 issue of Novel: a Forum on Fiction. He has also published chapters for books, like “JFK and the Global Anticolonial Movement,” which appears in The Cambridge Companion to John F. Kennedy.

He Met Ali on a Dating Website

During his academic pursuits, Rasberry managed to find some time to date. The Stanford educator first met Ali on the dating website eHarmony, Entertainment Tonight reported. According to the outlet, the couple wrote letters to one another for months before arranging a Skype date and then proceeding to meet one another in person.

He Proposed in the Redwoods

After two years of dating, Rasberry popped the question after a 45-minute hike in the Redwoods in Yosemite, California. “[He] proposed in the most picturesque clearing—just the two of us,” Ali recounted at the time. “It was so thoughtful and perfect. We’re best friends.”

He Married the Actress in a Caribbean-Inspired Wedding

On July 17, 2016, the couple tied the knot in a Caribbean-inspired wedding at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by 122 of their closest friends and family, plus some of Ali’s former colleagues. The bride—who was pregnant with the pair’s first child—and the groom exchanged personalized vows. 

Although the wedding planning process was relatively smooth sailing for the duo, Ali revealed to People that she and Rasberry disagreed on one detail: the cake. While Ali wanted chocolate, Rasberry preferred vanilla, so they compromised by serving a tiered confection infused with both flavors.

He Has Two Children With Ali

Rasberry and Ali are parents to two children, Edward Aszard Rasberry and Alejandro Vaughn Rasberry. Ali gave birth to their firstborn, Edward, on September 16, 2016, at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, per People. The duo later welcomed Alejandro on August 15, 2019, Us Weekly reported.