Nnaemeka is a Chancellor’s Professor of French, women’s studies and Africana studies in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. She is an internationally recognized expert on the African diaspora, African women, developing nations, globalization, multiculturalism and human rights, and she is a widely sought-after consultant for the United Nations and foreign governments. Nnaemeka founded the Association of African Women Scholars, which is headquartered at IUPUI.
In a letter awarding Nnaemeka this honor, American University in Paris President Celeste Schenck explained the difference Nnaemeka has made.
“As a prolific and influential scholar, you have been a powerful voice in the fields of gender studies, African studies and postcolonial studies,” she said. “You have revolutionized and expanded feminist theories and discourses, bringing to the fore the urgent importance of cultural literacy, articulated in your seminal article, ‘Nego-feminism: Theorizing, Practicing, and Pruning Africa’s Way,’ now a mainstay of gender studies curricula.