Lawrence Wayte joined the UO faculty as adjunct instructor in 2008, teaching a variety of courses including Blues History, American Pop Music, and Innovative Jazz Musicians. He received a Master of Arts in Composition from San Francisco State University and PhD in Musicology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

He previously taught for the San Francisco Community Music Center, San Francisco State University, University of California-Los Angeles, Art Institute of California-Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, and currently as music specialist at Oak Hill School in Eugene.

Wayte's publications include entries on "Jazz-Rock," "Soul-Jazz," "Free Jazz," and "Smooth Jazz" in the Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. His review of Reading Pop was published in Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association.

Wayte served as a panelist for the International Associate for the Study of Popular Music, US Chapter, National Conference in Los Angeles and as panelist for the Experience Music Project Pop Music Conference in Seattle.