Ernest is Walter Annenberg Chair in Communication and dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He is also a professor of political science and a faculty fellow at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School. With an academic focus on the convergence of communication, information technology and public policy, Ernest is recognized as a global thought leader in the field of Internet and digital communication. He was elected the first African-American chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in September 2009, of which he had been a board member since his appointment by President Clinton in 2000.

Ernest earned a Ph.D. and an MA in political science from the University of California Berkeley, and holds a BA from Harvard College.