Derek R. Peterson

Derek R. Peterson (born May 13, 1971) is an American historian specializing in the cultural history of East Africa. He is currently a professor of history and African studies at the University of Michigan. In 2025 he was elected chair of the university's faculty senate. In 2026 he was elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He was the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" in 2017.

Education and career Born May 13, 1971, Peterson is from Maine, New York and attended Maine–Endwell High School. He studied history and political science at the University of Rochester and graduated in 1993. His interest in African studies was sparked by a trip to Kenya in his sophomore year, and at Rochester he studied under African scholars Elias Mandala and Sam Nolutshungu. After graduating, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study in Kenya for a year. He then went on to the University of Minnesota, studying with Allen Isaacman, and obtained his PhD in 2000.

Peterson taught at the College of New Jersey between 2000 and 2004. where he edited a series of monographs on African studies, and initiated an academic exchange programme between Cambridge and universities in Africa.

Peterson has been a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute, was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2016, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016. He won the African Studies Association's 2013 Hersokovits Prize for his book Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival.

Peterson was chair of the University of Michigan’s Faculty Senate and Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs until April 2026 when he stated "My time as chair of the Faculty Senate is now at an end, and I will soon be returning to a life of dignified obscurity”.

2026 commencement address

On December 14, 2025 at the University of Michigan's Winter Commencement ceremony, Peterson said "our history is full of victors valiant who have organized themselves against racism, who have risen to defend the humanity of suffering people in the plantations of the old South, in the concentration camps of Hitler’s Germany, in the townships of apartheid South Africa, and in the ruined cities of Palestine.”

On May 2, 2026, Peterson delivered an address at the University of Michigan's Spring Commencement ceremony. In his address, he praised "pro-Palestinian student activists who have, over these past two years, opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity to Israel’s war in Gaza."

Reactions Peterson’s commencement speech drew mixed reactions. The remark that pro-Palestinian protesters had "opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza” received loud and long applause from the audience. Wayne State University Law Professor Jennifer Taub supported Peterson's speech. The Anti-Defamation League later said that the remarks were inappropriate for a graduation ceremony and could leave Jewish students feeling excluded. Michigan Hillel, a pro-Israel campus organization representing Jewish students, condemned the speech as politicized, “deeply troubling”, and not inclusive, while the pro-Palestine Jewish Voice for Peace issued a statement praising the speech and condemning the Michigan president's response.

Peterson later responded to the criticism in The Michigan Daily, saying it should not be controversial to acknowledge the humanitarian impact of the war in Gaza and stressing the importance of empathy with other people’s suffering. titled "Spring 2026 Commencement SACUA Chair address response", which Grasso described as "hurtful and insensitive to many members of our community. We regret the pain this has caused on a day devoted to celebration and accomplishment. For this, the university apologizes." According to Grasso, Peterson "deviated from the remarks he had shared before the ceremony. The Chair’s comments were inappropriate and do not represent our institutional position. Nor do they represent the diversity of views across our entire faculty. Everyone in our community is entitled to their own views; but this was neither the time nor the place. Commencement is a time of celebration, recognition and unity. The Chair’s remarks were expected to be congratulatory, not a platform for personal or political expression. Introducing such commentary in this setting was inappropriate and did not align with the purpose of the occasion. "

Selected publications Monographs

Edited volumes