Peace Medie

Dr. Peace A. Medie, this year’s honored alumni recipient, is a 2012 graduate of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Dr. Medie is celebrated as an award-winning scholar and novelist. Her research is at the intersection of African studies, international relations, and gender studies, with a focus on violence against women. Her fiction writing also explores the intricacies of women’s lives.

With acclaimed works like the novel, His Only Wife, which gained recognition from Reese Witherspoon's Book Club and was a New York Times Notable Book of 2020 and a Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020, as well as her latest release Nightbloom in 2023, Dr. Medie's literary success is noteworthy.

She has also won multiple awards for her scholarship and has published extensively on state and non-state actors’ efforts to address violence against women. She has conducted research in five countries in Africa and her monograph, Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa was published by Oxford University Press in 2020.

Dr. Medie’s engagement as a University of Pittsburgh alumna is strong, and includes ongoing collaboration with Pitt’s Center for African Studies and its events including, but not limited to, participating in the African Studies book club. Dr. Medie's dual role as a bestselling global author and a champion for ending violence against women underscores her remarkable impact and commitment to positive change.