News

Abiding with our governing statute, which demands us to change the leadership of IAS every two years, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer and Prof. Dr. Stefan Ouma, who have taken on the mantle of director and vice director, respectively. The two bring a wealth of experience and expertise to guide the Institute to even greater heights.

Gabriele Sommer, a valued and long-time member of the IAS family, has been a professor of African Linguistics since 2008 and holds the Chair for Africanistic at the University of Bayreuth. In her research, she particularly focuses on the Bantu language family. Stefan Ouma holds the Chair of Economic Geography - focusing on the theoretically and empirically informed economic geography of globalization and development. Both Gabriele and Stefan have previously been members of the Steering Committee of IAS. The two look forward to working collaboratively with the entire university fraternity and partners to advance the Institute of African Studies as a hub for cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary dialogue. 

The IAS would also like to extend its sincere gratitude to the outgoing directors, Prof. Dr. Eva Spies and Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime, for their dedicated leadership and valuable contributions to the Institute. Their efforts have played a crucial role in shaping the institute into a hub for academic excellence and collaboration beyond academics.

 We look forward to a new chapter. Together, we can achieve so much.