Dr. Ismaila Ceesay is a Senior Lecturer and the head of Political Science department at the University of The Gambia (UTG), where he taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses since 2010. He is the founder and former director of the MSc program in International Relations and Diplomacy at University of The Gambia.

Dr. Ceesay’s research interests include African politics, information and communications technology and the intersection of security and youth issues. He has authored numerous articles on these topics in peer reviewed journals and other esteemed publications such as ‘African Renaissance’, ‘African Foreign Affairs’ and the ‘African Election Series’ of the London School of Economics. In 2019 he was engaged as Lead Consultant for the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Stability and Addressing Root Causes of Irregular Migration and Displaced Persons in Africa’ project (EUTF for Africa) by Altai Consulting.

Dr. Ceesay is also the initiator and founding member of the Citizens Alliance (CA), a new political party in The Gambia. He is the current party leader of CA and is a former presidential candidate. In 2017, he was awarded Outstanding Lecturer of the Year by the UTG Students’ Union and in 2019 he was awarded Most Influential Young Persons in West Africa by the Confederation of West African Youths in Sierra Leone. Dr. Ceesay was previously awarded the prestigious “Pan-African Humanitarian Award for Excellence in Social Leadership and Community Impact” by the Pan African Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (PALEDEC) in partnership in 2018 as well.