Timeline
- 1927
- Program of African Studies (PAS) founder Melville J. Herskovits begins teaching at Northwestern University.
- 1948-1963
- PAS is created with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. Through Melville Herskovits' initiative, it is the first major interdisciplinary program in African Studies in the United States. Herskovits directs PAS from its inception until his death in 1963.
- 1954
- The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University is established. It remains the largest separate collection of Africana in existence.
- 1959-1991
- Hans Panofsky serves as curator of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies. For three decades, Panofsky grew the library into the impressive collection of Africana that it is today.
- 1964-1974
- Gwendolen M. Carter, a political scientist specializing in South Africa from Ontario, Canada, is appointed Melville J. Herskovits Professor of African Affairs and serves as director of PAS.
- 1974-1980
- Abraham Demoz, a specialist in Ethiopian and Semitic languages and sociolinguistics, serves as director of PAS.
- 1980-1986
- John Paden, a political scientist with a background in philosophy, politics and economics, serves as director of PAS.
- 1989-1994
- David William Cohen, a leader in the field of historical anthropology, serves as director of PAS. Cohen begins the "Red Lion" lectures, a co-sponsored series with the University of Chicago that continues today.
- 1991
- David Easterbrook becomes the George and Mary LeCron Foster Curator of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies. Easterbrook continues Hans Panofsky's legacy of growing and developing the Africana Library.
- 1995-2001
- Jane Guyer serves as director of PAS. She is an economic anthropologist who has published extensively on changing rural economies.
- 2001-2007
- Richard Joseph, a political scientist specializing in democratization and political development, serves as director of PAS.
