Historian Jean Allman Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Jean Allman, Professor of History at The Africa Institute and J.H. Hexter Professor in the Humanities and Professor of African and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, joins 2023’s list of elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the category of History.

The Academy announced the election of 269 outstanding individuals from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research, and science, including over 40 International Honorary Members from 23 countries.

Established in 1780, the Academy’s founders included John Adams and John Hancock, who envisioned an organization that would recognize accomplished individuals and engage them in addressing the greatest challenges facing the young nation. Today, the Academy continues to honor excellence and leadership while focusing on initiatives in the arts, democracy, education, global affairs, and science.

When announcing this year’s new members, Academy President David W. Oxtoby said, “With the election of these members, the Academy is honoring excellence, innovation, and leadership and recognizing a broad array of stellar accomplishments. We hope every new member celebrates this achievement and joins our work advancing the common good.”

Professor Allman expressed her surprise and gratitude saying, “I was completely stunned by this news and greatly humbled to be joining scholars whose work I have so long admired, particularly in the interdisciplinary fields of African and African Diaspora Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.”

Since completing her Ph.D. in African History at Northwestern University (USA), Allman has been actively engaged in interdisciplinary research, publication, and teaching in the humanities and social sciences. Her research and published work engage twentieth-century African history and thematic interests in gender, colonialism, decolonization, and the racial politics of knowledge production. 

Allman’s professional experiences include professor of history at the University of Missouri, the University of Minnesota, the University of Illinois, and Washington University in St. Louis.  She directed Illinois’ Center for African Studies (2003-2006) and the Center for the Humanities at Washington University (2014 to 2022).  She has twice been a senior research affiliate at the University of Ghana.  Allman has served as co-editor of two book series: Heinemann’s Social History of Africa series and the New African Histories book series at Ohio University Press, and for six years se co-edited the Journal of Women’s History. She was the President of the Ghana Studies Council (now Association) from 1992-98 and has sat on the Boards of Directors of the African Studies Association (USA), the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, and the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. More recently, she served as Vice President, President, and Past President of the African Studies Association (USA) from 2017-2020.

Joining Allman, other professors honored in the same category are: Marcia Chatelain, Georgetown University; Linda Colley, Princeton University; Nelson Lichtenstein,  University of California, Santa Barbara; Ann M. McGrath, Australian National University; Tiya Miles, Harvard University; and Steven J. Zipperstein, Stanford University.

Professor Allman’s election as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is a testament to her outstanding contributions to the field of history, particularly in her research on Africa, the African Diaspora, and Gender and Women’s Studies. Her interdisciplinary approach and scholarly achievements have not gone unnoticed, and we at The Africa Institute congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition, and we have no doubt that she will continue to make valuable contributions to her field and beyond.