Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka named Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at NYU

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 18, 1999

NEW YORK -- Nigerian-born writer Wole Soyinka has been named the first Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence by New York University's Africana studies program and the Institute of African-American Affairs. In 1986, Soyinka became the first African to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. The appointment will bring Soyinka to the university for lectures on democracy in the arts in Africa during February.

Soyinka is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts at Emory University. His work examines the cultural and political climate of Nigeria, especially the tensions between traditional Nigerian life and Western colonial influences.

The newly established Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Program will bring to NYU African and African-American scholars of international reputation and importance.