) is a Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

an historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, literary critic, novelist, short-story writer and blogger at The Zeleza Post -. He is currently (2009) president of the African Studies Association

African Studies Association

The African Studies Association is an association of scholars and professionals in the United States and Canada with an interest in the continent of Africa. Started in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North America. The associations headquarters are Rutgers...

. He has most recently been named as the next Dean of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...

.

Personal background

Zeleza was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia, now Harare

Harare

Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...

, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

, in May 1955, of Malawian parents. His parents returned to Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

 in 1956 before returning to Zimbabwe in 1972. Zeleza attended primary school (1961–1968) and secondary school (1968–1972) in the cities of Lilongwe

Lilongwe

Lilongwe, estimated population 902,388 as of 2009, is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It lies in the country's central region, on the Lilongwe River, near the border of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, and on the main north-south highway of Malawi, the M1.-History:The city started life as a...

 and Blantyre

Blantyre, Malawi

Blantyre or Mandala is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, the largest city with an estimated 732,518 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe...

 in Malawi. He attended college at the University of Malawi

University of Malawi

The University of Malawi is an educational institution established in 1964 and composed of five constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the five colleges, the largest is Chancellor College in Zomba. The name of the school is abbreviated to UNIMA. It is part of the...

 (1972–1976) where he received his BA with Distinction, majoring in History and English. He served as a Staff Associate at the University of Malawi's Chancellor College from 1976–1977 before he proceeded to Britain for his graduate studies. He earned an MA in African History and International Relations at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies

The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...

 and the London School of Economics and Political Science (1977–1978), then a Ph.D. in economic history at Dalhousie University

Dalhousie University

Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...

 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 (1978–1982).

Work experience

Upon completing his Ph.D. in 1982, Zeleza took up an appointment as a Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the West Indies

University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...

, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

 where he spent two years. He relocated to Kenyatta University

Kenyatta University

Kenyatta University, located in Nairobi, Kenya is the second largest public university in the country . The University is located in Kahawa, about from Nairobi's city centre, along the Nairobi-Thika road.- History :...

 in Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 in August 1984, the country on which he had done his Ph.D. dissertation and where he had spent a year between 1979–1980 conducted research. At Kenyatta he taught African economic history and began his extensive research on the subject that would eventually result in his award winning book, A Modern Economic History of Africa (Dakar: Codseria Book Series, 1993), which was partly financed by a Rockefeller Foundation "Reflections on Development Fellowship" administered by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research (CODESRIA). He was promoted from the position of Lecturer to Senior Lecturer in 1987.

In January 1990 he left Kenyatta University to work on the his African economic history research project, which took him to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states following a recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly.It is one of five regional commissions.The ECA...

 in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

, Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, and his alma mater, Dalhousie University in Canada, where he spent the next six months conducting research. In July 1990 he relocated to Trent University

Trent University

Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...

, Ontario, Canada, where he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of History. A year later he received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor, and three years later to Full Professor. In 1994 he was also appointed Principal of Lady Eaton College, one of the five constituent colleges of Trent University, as well as Acting Director of the Trent International Program.

In August 1995 he was recruited to become the Director of the Center for African Studies and Professor of History and African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

, in the United States, where he spent the next eight years and where he produced some of his most important academic work. In August 2003, he relocated to the Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

 where he was appointed Professor of African Studies and History in the Departments of History and African and African American Studies.

Since January 1, 2007 he has been Professor and Head, Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...

.

On August 1, 2009 he assumed his new role as Dean of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...

 in Los Angeles.

Research and Scholarship

Zeleza is widely recognized as one the leading authorities on African economic history. His book, A Modern Economic History of Africa, won the 1994 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa

Noma Award

The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa is a $10,000 prize for outstanding African writers and scholars who publish in Africa. Established in 1979, the award is annual and given to any new book published in three categories: literature, juvenile and scholarly...

, the continent's most prestigious book award. The jury citation noted:

"the book is an exercise in historical reconstruction, and its strength and distinction above all lies in its bold and convincing challenge to hitherto accepted orthodoxies, terminologies, and interpretations, about the nature and development of African societies and economies. The book is an outstanding, pioneering work, destined to become highly influential, and providing such a wealth of information and detail as to elevate the study of African economic history to a new pedestal."

Over the years, Zeleza has also established himself as a leading intellectual historian of Africa, with influential publications on the development of ideas and higher education institutions. His scholarly output and reputation also extends to gender studies, human rights studies and diaspora studies. In 2003 he was appointed by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

United Nations Research Institute For Social Development

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development is "an autonomous United Nations agency that carries out research on the social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development"...

 (UNRISD) to a nine-member advisory board to oversea the publication of "Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World", a research study issued to mark the 10th Anniversary of, and assess progress since, the United Nation's Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995.

He is currently working on a project, "Africa and Its Diasporas: Dispersals and Linkages" that seeks to trace the dispersal of African peoples globally (Asia, Europe, and the Americas), the formation of African diasporas in different world regions, and the linkages established between these diasporas and Africa over the centuries. The project is funded by a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation

Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....

.

Zeleza is frequently invited as a keynote speaker at international conferences and to give public lectures across the world. Among the numerous conferences where he has given keynote addresses are those organized by UNESCO in Paris in December 2003 and the Association of African Universities in Cape Town in February 2005. In 1995 he was one of six African intellectuals invited by the Japanese government for a three-week tour of Japan, and he revisited several Japanese universities in 2004 at the invitation of the Japanese Association of African Studies. In Asia he has also visited China and South Korea, and in Europe, he has been invited to France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Britain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, while in the Americas he has been to several Caribbean islands, Venezuela and Brazil. As for Africa he has been invited to and visited more than twenty countries, from Egypt to South Africa. In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Visiting Professor in the Department of Historical Studies, the African Gender Institute, and the Center for African Studies at the University of Cape Town

University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...

.

Literary Work

Zeleza is also a renowned writer of fiction. He is the author of three books, two collections of short stories, Night of Darkness and Other Stories (Montfort Press, Limbe, 1976), and The Joys of Exile: Stories (Anansi: Toronto, 1994), and a novel, Smouldering Charcoal (Oxford: Heienemann, 1992).

He has also published critical essays on African literature and postcolonial criticism. Among the authors whose works he has examined are Edward Said and Yvonne Vera.

Partial bibliography

Zeleza is the author of scores of articles and essays and more than twenty books, including most recently

The Study of Africa Volume 1: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Encounters; Volume 2: Transnational and Global Engagements. (Dakar: Codesria Book Series, 2006-7),

African Universities in the Twenty-First Century Volume 1: Liberalization and Internationalization; Volume 2: Knowledge and Society (Dakar: Codesria Book Series, 2004),

Human Rights, the Rule of Law and Development in Africa (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004),

Rethinking Africa’s Globalization Volume 1: The Intellectual Challenges (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2003),

In Search of Modernity: Science and Technology in Africa (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2003),

Leisure in Urban Africa (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2003),

Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century African History (London and New York: Routledge, 2002),

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 2005). (associate editor)

Forthcoming books include

Rethinking Africa’s Globalization Volume 2: The Developmental Challenges (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2003)

Causes and Costs of African Conflicts (Oxford: James Currey, 2007)

Conflict Management and Resolution in Africa (Oxford: James Currey, 2007),

Africa and Its Diasporas: Dispersals and Linkages (2008).

Awards and grants

Zeleza is the winner of the 1994 Noma Award

Noma Award

The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa is a $10,000 prize for outstanding African writers and scholars who publish in Africa. Established in 1979, the award is annual and given to any new book published in three categories: literature, juvenile and scholarly...

 for his book A Modern Economic History of Africa and the 1998 Special Commendation of the Noma Award for Manufacturing African Studies and Crises. He is also the recipient of Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2003; Honorable Mention, Conover-Porter Award, 2004; and of numerous grants from the Ford Foundation

Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....

, Rockefeller Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Carnegie Corporation of New York

Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...

, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation

Friedrich Ebert Foundation

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation is a German political foundation associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany , yet independent of it...

, U.S. Department of Education Title VI, National Endowment for the Humanities

National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...

, Canada Social Science and Humanities Research Council

Social Science and Humanities Research Council

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is an arm of the Canadian federal funding agency. SSHRC supports a wide range of research and scholarship in the social sciences and humanities. The current president of the Council is Chad Gaffield.- History :SSHRC was formally...

, and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. Recently he received the 2006 Penn State College of Liberal Arts Class of 1933 Distinction in the Humanities Award.