Dr. John Gaventa has made significant contributions to grassroots adult education, academic scholarship, and international development over a distinguished career of nearly 50 years. Throughout his work, he has sought to use his research and leadership to support community driven efforts for social change and social justice. A former Director of the Coady Institute and Vice-President, International at StFX, Dr. Gaventa is currently a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, a leading global institution for development research, based at the University of Sussex. Dr. Gaventa was born in the United States, but was raised in Nigeria, where his parents were medical missionaries. He returned to the U.S. to attend Vanderbilt University, and later received his D. Phil. in politics from Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. After graduation, Dr. Gaventa returned to the U.S. and helped lead a grassroots adult educational program at the Highlander Research and Education Centre in Tennessee, where he later served as director. Dr. Gaventa went on to serve as a professor and fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, where he became team leader of the IDS Participation Group, and later Director of Research. While at IDS, he has led several large scale collaborative international research programs on themes of citizen participation, local governance and accountability, working with local partners around the world. Internationally respected in his field, he has written widely on issues of citizen-led development and action and has received numerous awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Tisch Civic Engagement Research Prize from Tufts University. His first book, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley, broke new ground in the study of social power and won several major academic prizes. In addition to academic activities, Dr. Gaventa has volunteered many hours working with community groups and non-governmental initiatives. He became a member of the Council of Trustees of Oxfam UK, and later served as its chair. For his work at Oxfam, Dr. Gaventa was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2012.
