Siba Grovogui, long-time professor of political science at Johns Hopkins, has accepted a professorship at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University, announced Beverly Wendland, interim dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
Grovogui has been appointed to a leadership position at Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center, which aims to enrich the academic, cultural, and social environments on the university's Ithaca campus. The center has a history of shaping students' intellectual discipline, creativity, and social and political awareness. Grovogui will launch a program in Africana Political Thought in a newly created doctoral program.
Since joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1995, Grovogui, a native of Guinea, West Africa, has risen through the ranks from assistant professor to full professor.
"As a highly regarded expert in post-colonial studies, Siba has been a leader in international relations, political theory, and global and African studies," says Wendland. "Our students—particularly our doctoral students for whom Dr. Grovogui has been a valued mentor—have benefitted greatly from his broad knowledge and experience."
A graduate of the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Guinée, Grovogui received his master's and doctoral degrees in political science, with a minor in international law, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1988. He also has a law degree from the Institut Polytechnique Gamal Abdel Nasser, Guinée, and he served as an assistant judge in the Boké Court of Appeals when he was still in his 20s. He later served as legal counsel for the National Commission on Trade, Agreements, and Protocols in Guinea.
Before joining the tenure track faculty at Johns Hopkins, Grovogui was the DuBois-Mandela-Rodney Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan's Center for African and Afro American Studies and then became assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University. Among his many honors, in 2006, he was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at the University of N'Djamena, Chad.
"Siba will no doubt continue to make excellent contributions in his new position," says Wendland. "And though Cornell is gaining a wonderful colleague and scholar, his departure is a loss to us in the Krieger School. We look forward to Siba making visits to Baltimore as he continues to mentor and advise graduate students and engage with his colleagues."
Wendland said Grovogui played an active role on the faculty during his time at Hopkins, including directing the International Studies program—which houses one of the most popular majors in the school, serving as an elected member of the Homewood Academic Council, and being a member of the executive committee for the Center for Africana Studies. He taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses and, as director of international studies, he established numerous field studies opportunities all over the world for Hopkins students.
Richard Katz, chair of the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins, said Grovogui has played a major role in defining international relations for his students. "Siba has been a powerful voice countering the 'Eurocentrism' of scholarship concerning the post-colonial world, and foregrounding the contributions of the scholars and activists from the colonial and post-colonial world to the development of the postwar international order," says Katz. "We wish him the best at Cornell and look forward to continuing to work with him as a valued friend in the profession."
In addition to his scholarly and administrative activities at Hopkins, Grovogui is a highly respected international speaker, and he has authored many articles, book chapters, book reviews, and two books. He is currently working on two manuscripts and is the recipient of several research grants regarding African political thought.
"Siba is truly dedicated to helping students understand that each person's world reaches far beyond the environment in which one is raised, and that it extends beyond self-identity," says Wendland. "He is responsible for raising awareness about many global issues, and his impact at Hopkins will be lasting."
