Dr. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, professor and chair of International Development Studies at Trent University and an internationally recognized scholar on the political economy of agrarian relations, has been announced as the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Research Award, one of the University's top honours.

"Dr. Akram-Lodhi is a first class intellectual, prodigious publisher, active scholar and public intellectual who has earned a very well deserved international reputation for excellence in all that he does," said Jacqueline Solway, professor of International Development Studies and Anthropology at Trent University, who prepared the nomination package. "There is no doubt that he will continue to produce first-rate scholarship and keep Trent on the map as a leader in the field of international development and agrarian studies."

Trained as an economist, Prof. Akram-Lodhi studies the political economy of agrarian change in developing capitalist countries, with a focus on the economic dimensions of gender relations, and on the political ecology of sustainable rural livelihoods and communities in contemporary poor countries. His research is reflected in his teaching at Trent on global human inequality, the future of smallholder peasant communities in the world food system, the sustainability of rural social structures, institutions and communities, and gender and economic policy.

Prof. Akram-Lodhi's nomination for the award included references from globally-recognized scholars. Nominators commented on his "conceptually innovative" research and called him "an outstanding scholar and leader in his field who has gained international recognition," and "achieved a widely recognized worldwide reputation in the field of international development studies."

Prof. Akram-Lodhi has had notable success since starting at Trent University in 2006. Not only is he a professor and chair of International Development Studies, he is also the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies and a fellow of Food First, the Institute for Food and Development Policy. Prof. Akram-Lodhi also currently acts as a Gender and Poverty Adviser to the United Nations Development Programme's Gender Team, working on gender-responsive economic policy in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and is a poverty and gender analyst for the United Nations Environment Programme's Poverty - Environment Initiative - Africa. Prof. Akram-Lodhi is a member of the Board of the Canadian Consortium of University Programs in International Development Studies and on the Executive Council of the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development.

Prof. Akram-Lodhi has lived, taught, and conducted research in numerous countries, published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, and has undertaken advisory services for a wide variety of multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental international development organizations.

"I am humbled by this acknowledgement of my research accomplishments over the decades," said Prof. Akram-Lodhi upon learning about the award. "I am very grateful to the University for providing me with an environment in which, over the last nine years, my research has flourished."

Established in 1986, the Distinguished Research Award is given annually to a member of Trent's faculty in recognition of outstanding achievement in research and scholarship. Prof. Akram-Lodhi will be presented with the award at Trent University's Convocation ceremony on Wednesday, June 3 at 2:00 p.m.

Posted on Thursday, April 30, 2015.