Richard Joseph

Richard Joseph, a nonresident senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution, is John Evans Professor of International History and Politics at Northwestern University. Former fellow of The Carter Center, Atlanta, he focuses on African governance, political economy, and democratization. As a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Joseph’s understanding of the misuse of Africa’s human, physical and natural resources underwent a fundamental shift as reflected in his essay Affluence and Underdevelopment: The Nigerian Experience (1978). During the subsequent four decades, he has confronted directly – in publications, seminars, lectures, and collaborative research programs – impediments in Africa to democracy and economic growth, the building of efficient public and private institutions, the reduction of systemic corruption and poverty, and the ending of violent conflict.

Joseph has combined university teaching and scholarship with direct policy engagement in Affairs. He served for two years as a Ford Foundation program officer and six years conducting peace and democracy initiatives with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in several African countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Sudan and Zambia. With the support of the Dutch Foreign Ministry, he initiated at Northwestern the Consortium for Development Partnerships (CDP) in 2004 and oversaw projects by West African researchers on governance, democracy and agribusiness. A grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006 supported the creation of the Research Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS (REACH). He is currently distilling these experiences in a number of books including one based on his writings on Nigeria since 1977. An essay on his career as an engaged scholar can be found here. He is an active Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Board Member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a frequent policy commentator on NPR and other media.

In his joint positions at Northwestern and the Brookings Institution, he focuses on the following:

• The promotion of inclusive growth, democratic governance, and physical and social security in Africa
• The special challenges in Nigeria to overcome deepening inequalities, poverty, the corrupt use of governmental offices (prebendalism), and terrorist violence
• Writing monographs based on his diverse experiences as a scholar, policy advocate and practitioner
• Consulting in the search for more effective policies to achieve democratic progress, economic growth, and overcome discordant development in Africa and the United States

EDUCATION

D. Phil (1973) and B.Phil. (1969) Oxford University BA (1965) Dartmouth College