Ambassador Al-Hassan Conteh

Bio of Prof. Al-Hassan Conteh, Ph.D

Ambassador, University President, Demographer & Regional Scientist

Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Liberia to the United States of America. Before that, he served as Ambassador of Liberia to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with concurrent accreditation to the Republics of Benin and Equatorial Guinea, and Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He served as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Permanent Representative Committee and the Mediation and Security Council of ECOWAS at the Ambassadorial Level from 2017 to 2018. He was the Dean of West African Ambassadors and Deputy Dean of African Ambassadors in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Dr. Conteh is also the Co-Chair of the Board of the Africa Peace Fellows Program at the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution at California State University, Sacramento. He served as Acting President of the University of Liberia from June 2024 to January 2025.

Prior to his Ambassadorial assignments, he served as the President of the University of Liberia (UL) from 2004 to 2008. During this period, he was a founding member of the Association of Liberian Universities, which he served as Vice President of Academic Programs from 2005 to 2008.

Before that, he was Research Fellow at the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) USA, from January 2001 to December 2004. During this period, he served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple Universities in Philadelphia, USA, where he taught courses respectively on Understanding African Conflicts and African Development.

From 1996 to 2000, he was Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Liberia. While serving as the UL’s Vice President, he also worked, from February 1997 to August 2000, as the Project Director of the United States Institute for Peace’s project on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) curriculum for post-war Liberian institutions. The UL and the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution of California State University, USA, jointly implemented this project.

Between June 1995 and September 1997, he served as the Director of the Demographic Unit, of the UL, where he managed a UNFPA, post-conflict education grant and developed a population studies curriculum and research program in collaboration with Government of Liberia’s ministries, NGOs, and UN agencies, within the context of the UN Conference on Population and Development.

From February 1995 to May 1995, he worked for UNDP-Liberia as a Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) Consultant at the University of Liberia. In this capacity, he conducted research on the causes of the Liberian civil war, and taught undergraduate courses in population, development, and statistics at the University of Liberia.

Between October 1987 and May 1988, he worked as Senior Project Officer at the International Foundation for Education and Self Help (IFESH) in Philadelphia, PA, USA. At IFESH, he assisted with the management of education, skills training, and agricultural training and development programs in eight sub-Saharan African countries. He conducted project appraisals and cost-benefit studies, assisted with the development of leadership training projects, provided first-level reviews of project proposals submitted for funding by African private, volunteer and donor organizations, supervised project staff, and developed impact assessment reports for IFESH.

Previously, in 1981-1982, he served as Consultant for USAID and World Bank projects in Liberia for which he respectively conducted a grant study on the impact of USAID funding on previous Liberian grantees and prepared a research report with two UL colleagues on Monrovia markets.

As a scholar, his research includes “Boundaries and Conflict in the Mano River Region of West Africa,” (With Prof. Marilyn Silberfine of the Geography and Urban Studies Department of Temple University, Philadelphia, PA), Published in Conflict Management and Peace Science, Vol. 23, No. 4, pages 343-361 (2006); and “Environmental Risk Factors of Childhood Mortality in Liberia: Evidence and Policy Implications.(with David P.H. and Bauni E.K.) Published in Determinants of Health and Mortality in Africa, Edited by Allan G. Hill. New York, New York, The Population Council, Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS], 1990.

Ambassador Conteh holds a Ph.D. degree in Regional Science and Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts degree in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Philosophy degree in Demography from the United Nations Cairo Demographic Center, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Demography from the University of Liberia.

Ambassador Conteh holds the following awards and honors:

• Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) in International Relations. Conferred on him by the University of Liberia in December 2015 for his role in the re-development the university.
• Grand Commander, Order of the Star of Africa. Conferred by Government of Liberia, in July 2005, after he delivered the National Oration on the 158th Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Liberia.
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Fellow, Cairo Demographic Center, Cairo, Egypt, 1978 – 1980.
• Fulbright Scholar, University of Pennsylvania, 1983 - 1987.

Dr. Conteh is an ardent subscriber to peace, democracy, patriotism, and the promotion of sustainable human development in Liberia, Africa and our one World.