Derek R. Peterson

Derek R. Peterson is the Ali Mazrui Professor of History and African Studies at the University of Michigan. He is a historian of eastern Africa's intellectual and political cultures. Over the course of more than a decade Peterson has been centrally involved in ongoing efforts to salvage, organise, catalogue, and digitise endangered archival records in Uganda. Most recently he has been working with the Uganda Museum in Kampala to expand and deepen the Museum's historical exhibitions. In 2017 Peterson was awarded a MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship.

Peterson is the author of "Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival: A History of Dissent" (2012), which won the best book award from the African Studies Association; and editor or co-editor of several books. He is currently writing about Idi Amin's Uganda.