The History Department is pleased to announce George Reid Andrews, Distinguished Professor of History and UCIS Research Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, is the recipient of this year's Conference for Latin American History (CLAH) Distinguished Service Award, which is one of the highest honors bestowed on scholars of Latin American history in the US. Reid will receive the award at the upcoming CLAH annual meeting held in Chicago in early January 2026 in conjunction with the American Historical Association.
From Dr. Erika Denise Edwards, CLAH Co-Executive Director:
Professor Andrew's long career of original scholarship on Afrodescendants in the Southern Cone and in Latin America more broadly has been recognized by funding agencies such as the Guggenheim Foundation, NEH. Fulbright-Hays, and the SSRC and by the book and article prizes he has won. His important monographs on Afrodescendants include The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800-1900 (1980), Blacks and Whites in São Paulo, Brazil, 1888-1988 (1991) and Blackness in the White Nation: A History of Afro-Uruguay (2010). These works have not only won academic recognition; they also had a significant public impact by addressing racial erasure and social inequalities in those countries and contributing to community and academic activism attempting to correct those problems.
Professor Andrews has also promoted the interdisciplinary field of Afro-Latin American history he helped create through his six important monographs, The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800-1900 (1980), Blacks and Whites in São Paulo, Brazil 1888-1988 (1991), The Abolition of Slavery and the Aftermath of Slavery in Brazil (1998), Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000 (2004), Blackness in the White Nation: A History of Afro-Uruguay (2010), Voices of the Race: Black Newspapers in Latin America, 1870-1960 (2022), his -coedited work, Afro-Latin American Studies: An Introduction, with Alejandro de la Fuente, his textbook, Afro-Latin America: Black Lives, 1600-2000 (2016), and historiographical reviews such as "A Short History of Afro-Latin American Studies" for the Routledge Handbook of Afro-Latin American Studies (2023). Many of his works have been published in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French and in open source, amplifying his impact on the field.
His important service to Latin American history also includes his editorial work on the Afro-Latin American book series at Cambridge University Press, launched in 2017, which has produced many award-winning books in the field, and his service in multiple capacities at the University of Pittsburgh Press's Latin America Series, including General Editor from 2002 - 2007. Professor Andrews also served as a senior editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review from 2007-2012.
The very strong letters of support Professor Andrews received for this nomination stressed his dedication to collaborative work, not only in this country but in Latin America and his career-shaping mentorship of graduate students. His mentorship offered significant attention and support to first-generation students and non-native speakers from Latin America. His dedication to his graduate students was recognized by the Provost's Excellence in Mentoring Award at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. His attention to graduate professionalization continued in his work with the Mark Claster Mamolen Dissertation Workshop, directed by Alejandro de la Fuente at Harvard University since 2016.
In sum, the Committee unanimously selects George Reid Andrews for the 2025 CLAH Distinguished Service Award for his award-winning scholarship and his collaborative work of institution builder both in our country and in Latin America, his important editorial service to the field of Latin American history, and his dedicated mentorship of graduate students.