Prof. James McCann Appointed Pardee Center Director, ad interim

Boston University Prof. James McCann, a well-known scholar on the history of the food, ecology and agriculture of Africa, has been appointed Director, ad interim of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future as of August 15.

He takes over from Prof. Adil Najam, who recently returned to his native Pakistan to become Vice Chancellor of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Prof. Najam had been the Director of the Pardee Center since November 2007.

Prof. McCann joined Boston University in 1984. He is Professor of History and also serves as Associate Director for Development of the African Studies Center. He served as Director of the African Studies Center from 1992 to 2005. He is the author of five award-winning books, including Maize and Grace: Africa’s Encounter with a New World Crop (Harvard University Press, 2005) which won the George Perkins Marsh Prize from the American Society for Environmental History. He has served as consultant to Oxfam America, Oxfam (U.K.), the Swedish Royal Academy, CIMMYT, UNEP, FAO, the Norwegian Save the Children, and the Norwegian Council on Human Rights. Prof. McCann is currently working on a book on the human ecology of malaria and directing a five-year Rockefeller-funded project on maize cultivation and the transmission of malaria in Ethiopia.

During his time as Director, ad interim of the Pardee Center he will continue his responsibilities in the History Department and at the African Studies Center.

“This is an exciting opportunity to work with colleagues and students from across the University and international partners,” said McCann. “The Pardee Center’s interdisciplinary programs of research and publication have become a hallmark of Boston University’s global vision and I look forward to continuing and building on these efforts.”

The Center was established in 2000 with the generous support of BU alumni Frederick S. Pardee to conduct interdisciplinary, policy-relevant, and future-oriented programs of research, education, and outreach that contribute to long-term improvements in the human condition.

In support of its mission, the Center hosts monthly interdisciplinary seminars on topics related to various aspects of development and human well-being, sponsors an annual conference and Distinguished Lecture, and also runs an annual summer fellowship program for BU graduate students. The Center also has an active publications program, with series of policy briefs and working papers written by Pardee Center Faculty Fellows, Research Fellows, Graduate Fellows and others scholars and practitioners affiliated with the Center.