Price has held an array of positions of leadership during his life. After obtaining a B.A. from Amherst College, he graduated from Yale Law School. He began his career as a legal services lawyer representing low-income clients in New Haven, CT. During the turbulent 1960s, he served as the first executive director of the Black Coalition of New Haven. In 1978, he began his position as a member of the editorial board of The New York Times, where he wrote editorials on an array of political issues. He served as senior vice-president of WNET/Thirteen in New York, the nation's largest public television station and in 1984, became director of all national production. In 1988, he was appointed vice-president of the Rockefeller Foundation, where he was instrumental in launching innovative youth initiatives. From 1994 to 2003, he served as president of the National Urban League. He then served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and on the faculty of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University. He lives in New Rochelle, NY.