Ruth L. Okediji, the Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and leading intellectual property (IP) law scholar, has been named Oppenheimer Faculty Director of the Center for African Studies (CAS).
“I am delighted that Ruth Okediji has agreed to serve as the next director of the Center for African Studies,” said University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Alan M. Garber. “Ruth is an exemplary scholar, teacher, and mentor. Her intellectual leadership and extensive experience working with inter-governmental organizations as well as national and regional institutions on the African continent make her an ideal choice for expanding the work of the Center on campus and across Africa.”
“I also want to extend my thanks to Emmanuel Akyeampong for his dedicated leadership over the past seven years, both in continuing to develop the Center’s vision and in creating new partnerships and research opportunities that will ensure ongoing engagement with issues crucial to African studies and development,” said Garber. Over the course of Professor Akyeampong’s seven years as director, CAS successfully launched its Johannesburg office, created a high-profile lecture series, and expanded engagement in African studies across the University.
Professor Okediji’s research examines, among other things, the impact of IP law and policy on human welfare in developing and least-developed countries. Her interest in the development impact of IP laws began when she was a student at the Law School, studying under faculty that included William Alford, the Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law, William W. Fisher, III, WilmerHale Professor of Intellectual Property Law, and the late Leroy Hazen Vail, who pioneered African studies at FAS, and for whom she served as a Teaching Assistant in his courses on African History. It was in Vail’s classes that her research grew in ambition and scope, exploring colonialism’s impact on the rate and direction of innovation in Africa and framing patents as a source of technology transfer to the Continent. Her seminal work on international patent law, drug development, and access to medicines helped define the now well-known field of IP and Development.
During her distinguished career, Professor Okediji has served as a policy advisor to inter-governmental organizations, regional economic communities, and national governments on various matters related to IP, competition law, innovation policy, and human welfare. Her scholarship has influenced government policies and national strategies for implementing the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and other global IP treaties in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. She served as the Chief Technical Expert and Lead Negotiator for the Delegation of Nigeria to the 2013 WIPO Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities (Marrakesh VIP Treaty). In 2015, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed her to the 2015-2016 High Level Panel on Access to Medicines.
In addition to her role as a teacher and scholar, Professor Okediji leads the Program on Biblical Law & Christian Legal Studies, where she designed courses such as Forgiveness, Race and Faith, and Women in the Bible. She is also a member of the board of directors of the University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, where she focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance, and Ethics and Technology. She has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching, research, and mentoring.
Professor Okediji’s dedication to law and development studies and to the design and implementation of policy frameworks that expand global access to health technologies and knowledge goods make her well suited to lead CAS. “I am honored by the opportunity to lead the Center for African Studies, especially during this period of unprecedented digital innovation and its impact on the economic, cultural, legal, and governance challenges across the Continent,” said Okediji. “There is tremendous excitement about advancing the work at Harvard studying Africa’s development and role in a rapidly changing global technological, environmental, and political landscape. From natural resource management and climate change mitigation, to strengthening the Continent’s food and health security, there is a strong case for heightened intellectual engagement with Africa’s prospects in the global order. Our work at Harvard plays a vital role, and I look forward to rich debates, new interdisciplinary research and scholarship streams, and additional curricular initiatives regarding Africa.”
“Ruth is an internationally renowned legal scholar who is very well plugged in when it comes to Africa,” said former director Emmanuel Akyeampong. “The timing of her appointment as CAS faculty director coincides with Africa’s move to the center of global discussions on demographic transition, the strategic minerals at the forefront of clean and renewable energies, and novel developments in technology and innovation.”
Since its inception in 1969, CAS has served as an intellectual hub connecting students, faculty, and members of the wider Africanist community. It is dedicated to broadening knowledge about Africa and bringing African perspectives to bear on the scholarship of the Harvard community and beyond. It offers a range of programs, including study abroad and internship opportunities, collaborative teaching and research initiatives, fellowships, institutional partnerships on the continent, and technology-based outreach efforts, and it hosts a wide range of seminars, workshops, and conferences.
Professor Okediji will begin her duties as director on August 15, 2023.