Director Tukufu Zuberi

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Tukufu Zuberi is the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations. He is also the Chair of the Department of Sociology, and Director of the Center for Africana Studies. Professor Zuberi joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1989, during this time he has been a visiting Professor at Makerere University in Uganda and at the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

As an internationally-known social scientist, Professor Zuberi has made important contributions in the study of sociology, population studies, and Africana studies. He is a member of the Population Studies Center and the Center for Africana Studies. Professor Zuberi has spearheaded several major research projects including the African Census Analysis Project (ACAP). A collaborative effort between researchers at Penn and scholars from African institutions specializing in demographic research and training, ACAP aims to increase the usefulness and availability of census data to promote a better understanding of African demography.

Professor Zuberi is the author or editor of seven books or edited journal conference volumes, including most recently an edited volume entitled *Demography of South Africa* which is the first volume of a series entitled A General Demography of Africa.  He has published numerous peer-review journal articles and book chapters.   In addition to his publications, he has shared his research at conferences and symposia held around the world.  This work has been honored by grants and awards from numerous foundations and research organizations, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.    

Professor Zuberi has sought to allow the public to view everyday life in the broader social and historical context.  He stars in the Public Broadcasting Service’s History Detectives, a nationally syndicated series that seeks to uncover the mysteries of America’s past.