Tostan Board member Cheikh Mbacké has been selected by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) Council as the 2015 IUSSP Laureate. This prestigious honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to the advancement of population sciences and distinguished service rendered to the IUSSP.
According to the IUSSP Secretariat, Cheikh Mbacké is being recognized in particular for his contributions to research in the areas of population and health policies, and his invaluable support to the emergence of a community of African population researchers.
Dr. Mbacké has a bachelor’s degree in statistics from the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques in Paris, France, a master’s degree in demography from the Institut de Formation et de Recherche Démographique in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and a doctoral degree in demography from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He has worked on such projects as the first Senegalese census, as well as a pilot survey in a nomadic area of Mauritania in preparation for the first Mauritanian census. Dr. Mbacké has also shared his expertise with numerous organizations, including the Rockefeller Foundation, and across multiple fields—from international development to capacity building, management, and training.
Dr. Mbacké has been on the Board of Tostan since 2008 and has provided expert guidance and support for Tostan’s monitoring, evaluation, research and learning department, in addition to providing input into Tostan’s program development.
In 2003, Dr. Mbacké was the recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Outstanding Achievement Award for his leadership and management of the Foundation’s Nairobi office.
Raised in Nioro, a town in Senegal just north of the Gambian border, Dr. Mbacké speaks English and French, as well as Wolof, his native tongue.
IUSSP will present this award at a ceremony in San Diego, California at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront on April 29.
