Tieku, Thomas Kwasi

Thomas Kwasi Tieku is an Associate Research Fellow at UNU-CRIS within the Re-LAB Cluster and he will primarily work on regional institutions and organisations in Africa in close collaboration with Frank Mattheis.

He is also a Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and holds a Status Appointment at the level of a Full Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. His previous appointments include Carnegie-UG Diaspora Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD) at the University of Ghana, Co-ordinator of the Social Justice and Peace Studies Program at King’s University College and Director of the African Studies Program at the University of Toronto.

Professor Tieku’s research examines global governance, regional institutions and organisations in Africa, and the politics of international organisations. His current research, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, investigates the role of informality in international organisations. He is a leading member of several major research collaborations, including the RASS (Re-centering African Subjects and Subjectivities in Regionalism Studies) network funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the ASTIR (African Systems of Thought in International Relations) project and African Elite Project, both funded by SSHRC. He has published more than 45 refereed academic works on international affairs in major publishing outlets such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Routledge.  His scholarly contributions have been recognised with major awards such as the Hugh Mellon Excellence in Research Award, the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Toronto and Ontario University Students Alliance, and the Best Article Prize from the Review of International Studies and the British International Studies Association.

Professor Tieku has advised policymakers, and consulted for international organisations and governments, including the United Nations, the World Bank Group, and the Government of Canada. He is also an active leader and mentor in both professional and community settings. He currently serves as the Mentorship & Sponsorship Thematic Lead at the Continental African Diaspora Scholars Network (CADSN) in Canada, and is the President of the Ghanaian Association of London and Middlesex. He is currently Vice President-Elect of the International Studies Association (ISA), the world’s largest association of scholars and practitioners of international politics. He will be the Vice President of the ISA during his tenure as Associate Research Fellow of UNU-CRIS.