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.^[1]

He was the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" in 2017.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Born May 13, 1971, Peterson is from Maine, New York and attended Maine–Endwell High School.^[7] He studied history and political science at the University of Rochester, graduating 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.^[8]

Peterson taught at the College of New Jersey between 2000 and 2004.^[2] Between 2004 and 2009 he was the director of Centre for African Studies at the University of Cambridge,^[9] where he edited a series of monographs on African studies,^[10] and initiated an academic exchange programme between Cambridge and universities in Africa.^[9] He took a position at the University of Michigan in 2009, joining its newly founded African Studies Center (ASC).^[4]

Peterson has been a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute,^[11] was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2016,^[12] and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016.^[13] He won the African Studies Association's 2013 Hersokovits Prize for his book Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival.^[14]