Who is Kelechi?
A Professor of Political Science at The University of California, Riverside. As the Founding Vice Provost of International Affairs at UC Riverside (2015-2020), Kalu was responsible for setting the vision for UCR’s internationalization efforts. Kalu previously served as Associate Provost for Global Strategies and International Affairs and Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University (2012 – 2015). His research and teaching interests are in International Politics, African Political Economy, and U.S.-Africa Relations. Before his Associate Provost role, Professor Kalu served as the director of the Center for African Studies at The Ohio State University. He was a Korea Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of International Studies & The Institute for Development and Human Security at Ewha Womans University, South Korea (2011-2012), and as a Faculty affiliate at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University.
Kalu earned his Ph.D. (1997) in International Studies from the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. He is widely published and has served as a consultant to the World Bank on Public Sector Governance and the Asian Development Bank on Managing Sustainable Development in Resource-Rich Countries. He is a recipient of grants from The Ford Foundation, The Mershon Center, and The Korea Foundation.
Kalu’s recent publications include a book with Jiyoung Kim on: Foreign Aid and Development in South Korea and Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Economic Growth (London, UK: Routledge, 2021) and three edited volumes and chapter contributions (with George Kieh) on Peacebuilding in Africa: The Post-Conflict State and Its Multidimensional Crises (New York and London: Lexington Books, 2021); Democratization and Military Coups in Africa: Post-1990 Political Conflicts (New York and London: Lexington Books, 2021); and Civil Wars in Africa (New York and London: Lexington Books, 2022).