Awa Ambra Seck is an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. She is affiliated with LEAP Bocconi and CID at the Harvard Kennedy School. She graduated from Harvard in May 2023 with a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government (Economics track).  In 2024, she will start as an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and the International Economy unit at Harvard Business School.

Her research focuses on understanding the historical determinants of emigration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and its dynamics today, as well as how cultural traits and economics intertwine, with a focus on the ethnic groups of sub-Saharan Africa.

Before joining Harvard, she completed a Master of Science in Economics and Social Sciences at Bocconi University. She received her bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Turin and Collegio Carlo Alberto.