Nigerian author and writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been named the winner of the 2019 Everett M. Rogers Award.

This was revealed in a press release by The Norman Lear Centre, a multidisciplinary research and Public policy centre with a focus on how entertainment and industry impact society.

This Norman Lear Centre has presented the award since 2007 on behalf of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.

The women’s rights activist, critic, and feminist is set to receive the award on February 7, 2019, and speak at USC Annenberg ceremony.

Ms. Adichie’s first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Her 2013 novel Americanah won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times’ Top Ten Best Books of 2013. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages.

“Her voice and her power to inspire made Chimamanda Adichie the unanimous choice for the 2019 Rogers Award,” said USC Annenberg School Dean Willow Bay. “Her visit will continue the global conversation about race, gender and identity to which she’s contributed so forcefully.

Ms. Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” is one of the most-watched TED talks of all time. A MacArthur “genius” Fellow and a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015. In 2017, Fortune magazine named her one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

What is the Everett M. Rogers award?

The USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism is a leader in education and scholarship in communication, journalism, public diplomacy and public relation at all levels.

The award is presented in honour of Annenberg’s late Professor Everett M. Rodgers, the author of Diffusion of Innovations, the second most cited book in social sciences.

The award recognizes excellence in social causes, journalism, media, academia, authoring, and communication.

Read the full press release HERE.