René Lemarchand

René Lemarchand (born 1932) is a French-American political scientist who is known for his research on ethnic conflict and genocide in Rwanda, Burundi and Darfur. Publishing in both English and French, he is particularly known for his work on the concept of clientelism. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida, and continues to write, teach internationally and consult. Since retiring he has worked for USAID (Agency for International Development, Department of State) out of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire as a Regional Consultant for West Africa in Governance and Democracy, and as Democracy and Governance advisor to USAID / Ghana.

Early life and education René Lemarchand was born in 1932 in France. After doing undergraduate work in France, he went to the United States for doctoral studies in political science. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), specializing in studies of Central Africa.

Career Lemarchand joined the political science faculty of the University of Florida in late 1962. He became the first Director of the Center for African Studies at UF and served in that position until 1965. He worked at UF for his entire academic career. He has specialized in political issues in African nations, especially ethnic conflicts leading to warfare, and has published works in both French and English.

Lemarchand received a Fulbright award for June–September 1983 to lecture in political science at the University of Zimbabwe, Salisbury, Zimbabwe. He also received a Fulbright for July 1987–January 1988 for research in political science at the University of Chad, N'djamena, Chad and the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.

Lemarchand has become an expert in ethnic populations and conflicts, such as that in Burundi, the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and Darfur. He is internationally known as an expert on the cycle of violence in Central Africa. He has taught as a visiting professor at universities in Europe, Africa and North America.

Now professor emeritus of political science at the University of Florida, Lemarchand has worked as a consultant in governance for the USAID in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and as governance and democracy adviser to USAID/Ghana. The René Lemarchand Collection of African Political Papers at the University of Florida, featuring materials on Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Chad, Gabon, and Libya, mostly in French, with emphasis on the period of the 1950s through independence, and increasing democratization in the 1980s and 1990s.