Amna Qayyum

Amna Qayyum is Assistant Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Georgia. She also holds a concurrent appointment as a Fellow with the Faith and Global Health Initiative at Georgetown University. A scholar of health and development, she specializes in global and comparative approaches to the history of medicine, gender, religion, and governance. 

Her current book project traces the history of global reproductive governance with a focus on Muslim South Asia. Qayyum's research has been recognized with the 2021 Pirzada Prize in Pakistan Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and supported by fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS), the Joint Center for History and Economics at Harvard University, and the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Foundation, among others. Her research and commentary have appeared in Diplomatic History, The Washington Post, The Lancet, and Brookings.

In addition to her scholarly research, Qayyum has directed applied research and policy programs. She previously served as Program Director of the Faith and Global Health Initiative at Georgetown University, where she led the research program of a multidisciplinary Lancet Commission examining the changing landscape of trust in health systems. As a former Brookings expert, she led a visiting fellowship program and policy research portfolio focusing on gender and development. In her research and teaching then, Qayyum integrates her training in archival methods with her experience in policy research and global health and development practice.

Prior to joining the University of Georgia, Qayyum was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. She received her Ph.D. in History from Princeton University.