University at Buffalo Creates a Scholarship Fund to Honor Alison Des Forges

The University at Buffalo, a campus of the State University of New York System, has established a scholarship program named to honor Alison Des Forges., the late historian and human rights activist.

Des Forges was best known for alerting the world of the genocide in Rwanda. She documented the genocide with her book, Leave None to Tell the Story. She was a MacArthur “Genius Award” winner and a senior adviser for Africa for Human Rights Watch. Des Forges died in a plane crash in 2009. Her husband, Roger Des Forges is a professor of history at the University at Buffalo.

The Alison L. Des Forges Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund will be used to help students from the Buffalo public school system attend college. Preference will be given to students who plan to study in the fields of human rights and social justice.

Dr. Des Forges was a graduate of Radcliffe College at Harvard University. She earned a master’s degree a Ph.D. in history from Yale.