Ralph A. Austen

Ralph A. Austen was a distinguished historian of Africa, specializing in economic, imperial, and cultural history, with studies spanning regions like Tanzania, Cameroon, the Mande world, the Sahara, and the Atlantic world. Born in Leipzig, Germany, he earned degrees from Harvard University and UC Berkeley, joined the University of Chicago's History Department in 1967 as its first tenure-track African historian, and authored numerous books and over 100 articles over six decades.[1][2]