Skip to main content

The Institute for African Development (IAD) is an interdisciplinary nucleus for the study of Africa with the overarching goal of strengthening and expanding the depth and breadth of African development studies. Based in Ithaca, our impact reaches far beyond our physical location.

More than 40 IAD-affiliated faculty from across Cornell conduct research and teach courses related to African development. More than 300 IAD graduate fellows now work in government, NGOs, academic institutions, and international organizations on the African continent—testament to the institute's diverse constituency and impact. IAD is supported by an Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages (UISFL) grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Highlights

Our cherished friend and colleague Nic van de Walle has shaped the field of political science, and African politics in particular, in substantial and important ways.
Rachel Bezner Kerr is a professor of global development in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Program
The Institute for African Development  outreach site provides online resources for New York State teachers, community college faculty research opportunities, materials for advance
Program
IAD offers research grants to enrolled PhD students to conduct field research in sub-Saharan Africa. 
Program
Global Development encourages students to learn from and with communities both locally and globally.
Seminar
The Seminar on Issues in African Development series examines a broad range of critical concerns in contemporary Africa.