Deirdre LaPin is a scholar and international development specialist with longstanding experience across academia, government, multilateral agencies, and the private sector. She is currently a consultant for the private sector and international development agencies on best practice social policy and investment. Dr. LaPin was previously a Research Associate and Lecturer at the University of Ife, Nigeria, and has taught at Emory University, the University of Pennsylvania, and as Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas. Subsequent to her academic career, Dr. LaPin managed a worldwide project for the USAID Office of Health and Population and also joined UNICEF as a senior official in Benin Republic and Somalia. From 1997 she served the oil industry as a social investment manager based for five years in the Niger Delta and two years in Oman, leading the design, staffing, implementation, and evaluation of sustainable community development programs. In 2008-2009 she was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center researching the social history of the Niger Delta.
Ph.D., MA, University of Wisconsin, African Studies/Anthropology
Post-Doctoral Certificate & Masters in Public Health, Johns Hopkins University